Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ebonwilde's Reviews (901)
I didn't want to read this at first because what's a man doing writing a feminist thriller, and writing from a woman's perspective at that? However, he actually delivered. On the feminism aspect that is, I surprisingly don't have any criticisms on that regard. Unfortunately, this is one of the most boring "thrillers" (horror(?)) I have ever read. There is no suspense or thrill to be found anywhere except the last 60 pages or so. The one "twist" (Mary being the reincarnate of Damon Cross) was obvious from the first page, though I am not certain if this was meant to be surprising information for anyone but Mary. I am also not sure why this is marketed as horror instead of just supernatural, as nothing remotely scary occurs within its pages. There is, perhaps, some gore, but only to the extent of descriptions of rotting flesh—nothing you wouldn't find in your average murder mystery.
On that note, this wasn't as terrible as I am making it out to be. In my opinion, this works well as a piece of existential feminist fiction, quite aptly discussing how women must navigate the world and themselves as they age and no longer become of "use" to society. The author, as he himself says, is a male who has been socialized to be misogynistic, to be the voice of Damon Cross, and he does a nice job of writing from the perspective of a woman who has been degraded by that voice her entire life. I just don't think it should have been marketed as a either thriller or horror, because it creates expectations that this book will simply never meet.
On that note, this wasn't as terrible as I am making it out to be. In my opinion, this works well as a piece of existential feminist fiction, quite aptly discussing how women must navigate the world and themselves as they age and no longer become of "use" to society. The author, as he himself says, is a male who has been socialized to be misogynistic, to be the voice of Damon Cross, and he does a nice job of writing from the perspective of a woman who has been degraded by that voice her entire life. I just don't think it should have been marketed as a either thriller or horror, because it creates expectations that this book will simply never meet.
This book was genuinely awful, and should have stuck to the revenge plot instead of preaching feminism, because you could probably find a Colleen Hoover book that is somehow more feminist. I can understand the blatant choice feminism and the "feminism is for men too!!" propaganda, because I suppose that's how you would attract 16 year old straight white girls who care about nothing but who their next boyfriend will be. However, the whole republican subplot? "Adults can disagree on politics and still be friends!!" No, girl, your friend voted a serial rapist for president. And I'm supposed to believe this creature used to be a rebellious punk rock feminist in the 90s? Be serious.
there's so many things insane about this book. the first is that the athshean culture is meant to symbolize vietnam, or at least colonized cultures in general. athsheans are depicted as uber-natural, whimsical, entirely nonviolent, and completely separate from human negative emotion.
this is the woman who said, "But I didn’t and still don’t like making a cult of women’s knowledge, preening ourselves on knowing things men don’t know, women’s deep irrational wisdom, women’s instinctive knowledge of Nature, and so on. All that all too often merely reinforces the masculinist idea of women as primitive and inferior – women’s knowledge as elementary, primitive, always down below at the dark roots, while men get to cultivate and own the flowers and crops that come up into the light. But why should women keep talking baby talk while men get to grow up? Why should women feel blindly while men get to think?"
if she can apply this thought to gender, she should certainly be able to apply this to race and ethnicity. unfortunately, those from marginalized nations are just as prone to misogyny, ethnic discrimination, and other types of violence as much as the white man. they are humans with the full extent of human emotion and action. as an asian, i can certainly tell you that misogyny has existed here long before the british came. le guin could have written a sympathetic victimized nation without the primitive noble savage trope; she is certainly a talented enough writer for that.
my next gripe with this book is that the athsheans are described as a matriarchy, with a mostly gender-neutral or gender-equal society. as you read on, however, they have very distinct gender roles—women are political leaders because they are apparently more thoughtful and empathetic; their nature is described exactly as it would be on a very misogynistic earth.
the supposedly matriarchal athsheans, in their quest for independence, somehow ignore the males who have been raping and enslaving them for years to instead slaughter the female sex slaves who have done absolutely nothing. because they are, obviously, a matriarchy. the few males they capture in their raids, they let go. because they are a matriarchy. the athshean leader mentions this is because the women would allow human reproduction, which is an odd thing to say because if they killed all the males (the slave traffickers and rapists, mind you), the women would not be able to reproduce on their own. it would have had the same effect, and would have actually been better in terms of the rebellion, as the women, unlike the male soldiers, would have no means of retribution. yet these oh so matriarchal beings decided to mass murder women instead.
i suppose this could be a point about how women, even in the most matriarchal and feminist societies, will always be reduced to their biological capacities for gestation, but this doesn't make it any less irritating to read.
finally, the ending. the athsheans spend the whole novel trying to find davidson, the hitler of the book. in the end, they let him go. they actually let him go. they spend the whole novel murdering innocents, but let hitler go because killing him would make them just as bad. as bad as hitler. he's obviously imprisoned somewhere on some island, but i genuinely have never read such an anticlimactic ending.
then there's a whole spiel at the end about how violence has forever changed the ooh la la dreamy whimsical culture of the athsheans. about how now, after defending themselves from hitlerites, they've maybe become just as bad and was it worth it? i'm sure this probably isn't meant to be the main takeaway from this book, but come on.
i'm sure that being forced to become a killer within the span of a few months to defend your home from colonizers takes a psychological toll. i'm not arguing against that. but it is very odd for a white woman to write an antiviolence gandhi monologue into a novel about imperialism, especially when her audience is also mostly white. i don't like the idea of white people promoting antiviolence protest as the only morally correct means of defense against imperial violence, in the safety of their homes when poc are being tortured and killed for daring to exist.
one thing that i genuinely do like about this novel is the portrayal of davidson. i think that most people don't like him being completely evil with no redeeming qualities because it does come off as quite cartoonish. however, in the context of this book specifically, it works. davidson is meant to represent american soldiers in vietnam, and i think there is enough media representation of the "poor veterans who suffered so much because of their choice to kill children aww. look how traumatized they are" variety. i like that he is entirely evil because that's what their breed is. you can't look at my lai and abu ghraib and every other atrocity they cover up and simultaneously pretend these creatures have an ounce of humanity in them, because they do not.
2.5 stars.
this is the woman who said, "But I didn’t and still don’t like making a cult of women’s knowledge, preening ourselves on knowing things men don’t know, women’s deep irrational wisdom, women’s instinctive knowledge of Nature, and so on. All that all too often merely reinforces the masculinist idea of women as primitive and inferior – women’s knowledge as elementary, primitive, always down below at the dark roots, while men get to cultivate and own the flowers and crops that come up into the light. But why should women keep talking baby talk while men get to grow up? Why should women feel blindly while men get to think?"
if she can apply this thought to gender, she should certainly be able to apply this to race and ethnicity. unfortunately, those from marginalized nations are just as prone to misogyny, ethnic discrimination, and other types of violence as much as the white man. they are humans with the full extent of human emotion and action. as an asian, i can certainly tell you that misogyny has existed here long before the british came. le guin could have written a sympathetic victimized nation without the primitive noble savage trope; she is certainly a talented enough writer for that.
my next gripe with this book is that the athsheans are described as a matriarchy, with a mostly gender-neutral or gender-equal society. as you read on, however, they have very distinct gender roles—women are political leaders because they are apparently more thoughtful and empathetic; their nature is described exactly as it would be on a very misogynistic earth.
the supposedly matriarchal athsheans, in their quest for independence, somehow ignore the males who have been raping and enslaving them for years to instead slaughter the female sex slaves who have done absolutely nothing. because they are, obviously, a matriarchy. the few males they capture in their raids, they let go. because they are a matriarchy. the athshean leader mentions this is because the women would allow human reproduction, which is an odd thing to say because if they killed all the males (the slave traffickers and rapists, mind you), the women would not be able to reproduce on their own. it would have had the same effect, and would have actually been better in terms of the rebellion, as the women, unlike the male soldiers, would have no means of retribution. yet these oh so matriarchal beings decided to mass murder women instead.
i suppose this could be a point about how women, even in the most matriarchal and feminist societies, will always be reduced to their biological capacities for gestation, but this doesn't make it any less irritating to read.
finally, the ending. the athsheans spend the whole novel trying to find davidson, the hitler of the book. in the end, they let him go. they actually let him go. they spend the whole novel murdering innocents, but let hitler go because killing him would make them just as bad. as bad as hitler. he's obviously imprisoned somewhere on some island, but i genuinely have never read such an anticlimactic ending.
then there's a whole spiel at the end about how violence has forever changed the ooh la la dreamy whimsical culture of the athsheans. about how now, after defending themselves from hitlerites, they've maybe become just as bad and was it worth it? i'm sure this probably isn't meant to be the main takeaway from this book, but come on.
i'm sure that being forced to become a killer within the span of a few months to defend your home from colonizers takes a psychological toll. i'm not arguing against that. but it is very odd for a white woman to write an antiviolence gandhi monologue into a novel about imperialism, especially when her audience is also mostly white. i don't like the idea of white people promoting antiviolence protest as the only morally correct means of defense against imperial violence, in the safety of their homes when poc are being tortured and killed for daring to exist.
one thing that i genuinely do like about this novel is the portrayal of davidson. i think that most people don't like him being completely evil with no redeeming qualities because it does come off as quite cartoonish. however, in the context of this book specifically, it works. davidson is meant to represent american soldiers in vietnam, and i think there is enough media representation of the "poor veterans who suffered so much because of their choice to kill children aww. look how traumatized they are" variety. i like that he is entirely evil because that's what their breed is. you can't look at my lai and abu ghraib and every other atrocity they cover up and simultaneously pretend these creatures have an ounce of humanity in them, because they do not.
2.5 stars.
