Acts of Desperation - Megan Nolan

"In the first scene of this provocative gut-punch of a novel, our
unnamed narrator meets a magnetic writer named Ciaran and falls, against her better judgment, completely in his power. After a brief, all-consuming romance he abruptly rejects her, sending her into a tailspin of jealous obsession and longing. If he ever comes back to her, she resolves to hang onto him and his love at all costs, even if it destroys her…

Part breathless confession, part lucid critique, Acts of Desperation renders a consciousness split between rebellion and submission, between escaping degradation and eroticizing it, and between loving and being lovable. With unsettling, electric precision, Nolan dissects one of life’s most elusive mysteries: Why do we want what we want, and how do we want it?

Heralding the arrival of a stunning new literary talent, Acts of Desperation interrogates the nature of fantasy, desire, and power, challenging us to reckon honestly with our own insatiability."

I must be honest, I find the blurb of this book to be quite misleading in terms of the tone of this book. This is not a book about a delusional and obsessional woman falling in love. It is a painfully ordinary tale of a woman damaged by society who finds herself taking the love she believes she deserves. 

I believe this is what made the events of this book distressing. It wasn't outlandish violence or the strange behaviour of a masochist. It was an extraordinarily relatable story of a woman's self-destructive and desperate need to be loved, and going to awful lengths to achieve it. But lengths that aren't that out of the realms of possibility. Nothing about this story is romantic, both characters have extremely distorted visions of what love and affection are supposed to look like: we have on one hand an unnamed narrator who engages in obsessive behaviour to be loved and on the other, an incredibly cold man, Ciaran, who seems unable to provide her with even the most elementary bit of affection yet loves her attention. 

A self-destructive, unlikeable and deeply depressed protagonist with self-esteem issues through the roof, yet she is instantly familiar. Either as a friend, an acquaintance or even mirroring sides of your own personality. 

I have seen this book described as visceral, raw and dark. I must be honest I didn't find it that moving. The emotion isn't quite there, the relationship isn't fleshed out and the characters are pretty one-dimensional. I felt little to no connection to the main character, and no understanding as to her dependent connection to Ciaran. Possibly this is a "me" issue as I can't relate to the protagonist's mental issues or outlook as it is very different to my own. 

There are moments where it becomes very clear that this Nolan’s own diaries, tossed into book form with the lightest of edits. At times Nolan veers into a personal essay cul-de-sac. What differentiates a novel from an essay is that it’s specific, not general. You can make some general claims, but it has to be through the lens of a specific character’s opinions or experiences. Otherwise, it just reads like frantic space-filling, for example with not terribly original analyses of topics such as everyday sexism and diet culture. 

Overall, an interesting book to get into the mindset of someone very different from me. Do I think it is the best and most nuanced example of the writing of toxic relationships, definitely not. 

Age Rating 18+. Multiple instances of rape and dubious consent, verbal and psychological abuse and destructive behaviours.

 

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World - Elif Shafak

"For Leila, each minute after her death brings a sensuous memory: the
taste of spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the long-awaited birth of a son; the sight of bubbling vats of lemon and sugar which the women use to wax their legs while the men attend mosque; the scent of cardamom coffee that Leila shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each memory, too, recalls the friends she made at each key moment in her life - friends who are now desperately trying to find her. . ."

10 Minutes is separated into two parts, the Mind, with Leila recalling the moments of her life and The Body, the efforts of her friends to recover and bury her. Right there, in that two-part structure is something startlingly radical: Leila is both a mind and a body, a fully rounded woman with four decades of lived experience and a cadaver on a medical examiner’s table. Her death is not where the story ends or where it begins. Her grisly murder is not an outrage to be avenged, nor a puzzle to be solved , there is no brilliant/jaded/antisocial detective , it is simply a tragedy. A lurid death of the type so common in fiction (and upon which a whole genre has been built) – a murdered whore stuffed into a bin – but here the victim is humanised, centred, she is no plot device in someone else’s story.

It is a deeply depressing story of exclusion, sexual abuse, the fall into prostitution, the death of loved ones and an all encompassing feeling of abandonment and hopelessness. But that is not all it is. Yes, there is incredible sadness. But there is also hope, and friendship, and love. For me this book re-affirms how very special life it. What it means to be alive. How and why we can try to make changes and make the world more inclusive and loving.  Most importantly to seek out those with which you will be able to share your life with, those who are meaningful and understand you. 

Shafak's sensual writing abounds. You can smell the scents of spices, cardamom, lemon. You can feel the heat from the sky. The evening breeze on your neck. The lights of the city at night. The sizzle of the food vendor's grill. See the sun reflecting off the harbour. Hear the seagulls careening. The writing is so wonderfully descriptive. 

This is not a perfect novel by any stretch. Leila’s life story is compelling, but not remarkably so; Shafak’s prose style is undeniably lush and sensual, but also occasionally sentimental. Two consecutive chapters open with almost identical lines, which felt slightly lazy. Leila’s ‘found family’ of misfits are drawn with broad brushstrokes and feel more like ‘types’ than real people and their farcical efforts in Part Two are a bit slapstick (Part Two is overall weaker than Part One). 

But along with the mawkishness and melodrama there is poignant charm , wisdom, beauty and compassion. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World is a novel that beguiles and seduces despite its flaws.

Age Rating 18+. Sexual abuse of a minor, prostitution, swearing, murder, serious mental illness. 

Rubyfruit Jungle - Rita Mae Brown

"Molly Bolt is a young lady with a big character. Beautiful, funny
and bright, Molly figures out at a young age that she will have to be tough to stay true to herself in 1950s America. In her dealings with boyfriends and girlfriends, in the rocky relationship with her mother and in her determination to pursue her career, she will fight for her right to happiness. Charming, proud and inspiring, Molly is the girl who refuses to be put in a box."

An objectively good book with some really, really questionable sections. 

A fun and interesting coming of age story with a spunky main character, Molly, who never accepts an answer or societal control, kicks against all her disadvantages and the bigotry facing her. It was genuinely funny too - the description of the children's nativity play in the local school is priceless. Overall I enjoyed reading this book, especially the childhood part. However there were some definite issues. 

First of all, everything is too contrived. Everyone Molly meets just happens to become gay. Things happen very easily for Molly, she is homeless in New York than the next day finds a cheap apartment? I mean I wasn't in New York in the 70s, I wasn't around at all in the 70's, but that seems a little unrealistic. 

I enjoyed the main character’s strength of self and unapologetic intention to live her life only for herself without a care for what the world thinks. However, there is unfortunately little nuance, little moments of understanding and in truth, little sense of a full character. Molly's a one-dimensional saviour, who has no negative characteristics accept for the fact that she seems to be a bit of a bitch. She never seemed to care about any of the women she slept with. Her definition for being a lesbian seemed to be that she enjoyed sex with women more than she did sex with men, which I mean...I guess that's one definition. She never seemed to fall in love or actually care about anyone.

Now, the parts I had some real issues with. The aggressive putting down of butch lesbians, basically amounting to butch women being just like men. Molly literally says, why would she wish to be with a butch women, if she wanted a men she would sleep with a man. So yeah.... Then goes on to characterise butch women as ugly, stupid and grotesque. There is also the putting down of older lesbians. They are characterised as predatory and deeply sad. I am of course not here to say that there are no predatory, stupid, ugly people within the community, obviously they are. But for that to be all that you show in a book? Molly is the only "good" queer. It actually feels really homophobic for a gay book. 

There is also a rape scene (with Molly being the attacker) or at least the consent lines where so blurred I really wasn't comfortable with it. And the final cherry on top, - the approval and almost slight endorsement of incest and the assertion that it's "anti-human" to not commit incest to some level. I mean...excuse me, what? I am unsure whether all of these views are the authors, but as the book is semi-autobiographical I am led to believe so. 

I enjoyed the humour, the quirky happenings, the side characters were vivid and writing wasn't bad. It was interesting to read a book so important within the lesbian historical canon. But as a book that has been called so "sex positive", and I am no prude, but I personally don't think rape, incest, infidelity, cheating and sex without any emotions if very healthy or sex positive. 

Age Rating 16+ Sex, homelessness, discrimination, abortion, childhood abuse, death. 

Antigone Rising: The Subversive Power of the Ancient Myths - Helen Morales

"The picture of classical antiquity most of us learned in school is
framed in certain ways -- glossing over misogyny while omitting the seeds of feminist resistance. Many of today's harmful practices, like school dress codes, exploitation of the environment, and rape culture, have their roots in the ancient world.

But in Antigone Rising, classicist Helen Morales reminds us that the myths have subversive power because they are told -- and read -- in different ways."

I thought this was going to be a scholarly classical reception volume: it's not. Instead it reads like a series of popular articles that have a link (sometimes tenuous) or spring from a classical phenomenon (not always a myth) which Morales uses as a foundation for writing about our own cultural flashpoints, principally around feminist resistance to patriarchy but which also attend to other inclusive issues around race, gender and sexuality.

The writing is frequently fierce (and rightly so) with flashes of ironic humour (the terrible danger to men of a naked collarbone!) and the whole thing is easily read in 1-2 hours. I'd say that if you're already familiar with Greek and Roman culture and classical myths then there might be a bit too much storytelling rather than analysis here, but that feels appropriate for a cross-over audience. While I was familiar with most of the connections between myths and popular culture and the myths themselves, being both a classicist and queer, it was still lovely to read an eloquent book about this subject which is very close to my heart. I would highly recommend this book to people that know little about either Greek and Roman Myth, culture, or modern feminist issues. 

Age Rating 16+. Mentions of rape and violence. 

The Iron Widow - Xiran Jay Zhao

"The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot
Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. However, through an unexpected incident, she is labelled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot. 

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and stop more girls from being sacrificed."

I knew I would enjoy this book but I absolutely loved it. 

For a debut novel, it is absolutely knockout. The plot is snappy, fast - paced and fluid while still giving the world time to be fleshed out and moments of quiet. Jay Zhao beautifully interweaves the recognizable elements of popular YA, with Chinese mythology and history all while using these elements to explore the modern dilemmas of sexism, societally condoned abuse, shame tactics, body politics, Chinese tribal politics and jingoism. However, it never becomes didactic, nor do these themes feel forced into the narrative. They flow naturally within the story structure. Clearly an incredibly well read/informed author.  

The writing is stellar. There were heart-breaking moments and moments that made me feel like I should go scream victoriously on a roof top somewhere. The descriptions were beautiful, and created a vivid and unique world for me. The Chrysalises sounded so damn cool. The dialogue is so good, it never felt clunky and each person had a very unique voice. 

The characters where all so lovable to me. Very few novels out there allow their female protagonist to gain full ownership not only of her body, but of her destiny; to be merciless and vengeful, and cold-blooded; to kill people in order to achieve her goals. Zetian is brutal and fabulous. She is allowed to be as cold and calculating as her male peers, arguably more so, while never becoming unrelatable. She loves and feels so deeply, which is why she fights so hard. She is probably the first "empowering" character that I have read that I actually felt was relatable and genuinely had me coming away feeling pumped. 

Li Shimin was adorable, this huge, terrifying, hulking solider is actually a big softie. This contrasted by Gao YiZhi, who is the most traditionally feminine of them all, is the cool and calculating strategist. I adored the dynamics between the three of them. I wasn't aware that it was going to be a polyamorous relationship so I was so thrilled when I started to see the way that the book was headed. I also just really appreciated seeing a relationship between a more aggressive women and and more feminine guy, where she didn't look down on him, nor did he feel emasculated by her in anyway. It was beautiful and refreshing. 

While there where some elements that where clearly recognizable from other places such as the obvious nod to Pacific Rim or Ender's Game, I never felt that this book was derivative. It felt unique, original, scintillating and surprisingly gritty in places. I would 100% recommend and I am looking forward to the next instalment after that plot twist! 

Age Rating 17+. Mentions of domestic violence, rape, abuse, physically mutilation, torture.

Ninth House (#1) - Leigh Bardugo

"Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman
class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive."

I really enjoyed this book, it was right up my alley. Secret Societies, Old Universities, Magic and Academia, Ghosts, Magic Tattoos, Tradition and the "Old Boys Club" being infiltrated by someone who definitely doesn't traditionally belong there. It was a bit slow to start but I, personally, enjoy slower paced books. Bardugo's atmosphere building is top notch and her plot kept me guessing and interested. There are also some really stunning writing/ aesthetic moments that, if I had any drawing skills, I would love to draw. The dialogue was fun and snappy. The character's a good mix of cliché and unique. 

I am not very fond of Alex’s character just yet, she’s indeed a hard girl to love but I think she might grow on me after a while. I already love her wits and confidence so I just need another push to be sure I love her.

I feel that Leigh Bardugo definitely seems more suited to writing more adult slanted content. There is no YA, which seems to have come to mean tweens and up, content here, okay. This really is young ADULT. 

If this book is one thing, it's violent. There are some graphic scenes that show sexual abuse, rape, drug addiction and the sexual abuse of minors. There is trauma and pain and it's not glossed over. That said, it isn’t the grimmest, or bleakest book I’ve ever read. In fact, Bardugo sometimes tries too hard for big, dramatic horror, and the violence comes off as gratuitous, her ghosts sometimes too chain-rattling to believe. Ninth House is about all kinds of trauma, yet I found that the consequences of such a monumental thing are barely brushed upon. The novel is rife with flashbacks, seen through Alex’s eyes as she passively witnesses the horrifying events of her past, but her trauma-suppressed memories seemingly only resurface whenever it's convenient for the plot, and without much of a statement being made besides. And that occasionally struck a sour note.

There’s a lot going on in this book. It is something hard to get into because the beginning is extremely confusing. The action is quite slow and not necessarily that complex, but somehow, until the end, there is something there. Something that leaves you thinking that you actually really enjoyed it. I am keen to read the second instalment when I think the magic aspect of the series will also come into it's own and we will get a better understanding of the characters. 

Age Rating 17+. As said above, quite a brutal book that includes no small amount of abuse. 

Ariadne - Jennifer Saint

"As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos,
Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur - Minos's greatest shame and Ariadne's brother - demands blood every year.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods - drawing their attention can cost you everything.

In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne's decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover's ambition?"

This book wasn't what I was expecting. I figured this would solely be a retelling of the Minotaur myth, but it actually follows Ariadne's entire life (the minotaur is only like the first 25%). I really enjoyed getting to know more about her outside of her father's kingdom. I found her relationship with Dionysus interesting and the alternate perspective of Theseus refreshing.

The writing is also lovely, not quite on the level of Madeline Miller or Pat Barker(an impossibly high standard, to be honest), but still has moments of beauty. 

However, I was disappointed. To put it plainly, there was so much potential from the get go, but the longer the story went on, the more it seemed like this was just a re-write of the original myth from Ariadne’s perspective. Not much differed from my finite knowledge of the myth to which this was based on. There was no new take, or fresh approach. The book merely changed the POV character.

The book's pacing also flagged in the middle. It was mainly just the author trying to come up with some sort of emotional conflict that didn’t need to happen, and would have been much more interesting to have the darker aspects of Dionysus shared and explored with Ariadne. Especially since classical art DEPICTS her participating in his rituals with the Maenads and Satyrs. So the characterization of her being the dutiful housewife and mother was dull and off-putting, which is something I never could have imagined for the wife of the god of wine, revelry, ritual madness, and religious ecstasy. It would have also been a wonderful way to explore that feminist aspect with Ariadne finding her own wildness and passion. 

I was hoping the ending would give me the satisfaction I was looking for, I mean you hear “feminist retelling” and you get a little excited. However, upon reaching the end I have to say that giving this novel that description could not be more misleading. The ending itself also felt anti-climactic and sudden. I had no idea how it was truly going to end and the ending that was given did not leave me feeling satisfied in the least and mostly left me wondering what even was the point of the novel other than “women suffered a lot in a highly misogynistic society" ..which I mean, duh. 

Age Rating 15+. A few more brutal moments. Childbirth, depression, suicide. 

A Thousand Ships - Natalie Hayes

"

This is the women’s war, just as much as it is the men’s. They have
waited long enough for their turn . . .

This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of them all . . .

In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen.

From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves, and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war. 

A woman’s epic, powerfully imbued with new life, A Thousand Ships puts the women, girls and goddesses at the center of the Western world’s great tale ever told."

Elegantly written from the narration of Calliope, the goddess of epic poetry, through the book, the reader is given a unique perspective. As Calliope answers the pleas of a poet, she provides a compilation of the many women - goddesses, Greeks, and Trojans alike - whose lives were affected by the war. Although this book isn't told in chronological order, it is rather an anthology of stories, the narrative is quite cohesive and broad.

Natalie Haynes honours the women, raising their voices to provide a broader perspective on the war and it's aftermath. She flits from one woman to the next, introducing the perspective of five different women in the first fifty pages, with additional female characters to follow. Narrative perspective shifts from first to third-person. Some chapters follow a linear path while others fade in and out of the past and present. This leaping about, narratively and through time, gives the book a quality of being slightly patchwork and frenetic, disjointed. The systematic checking off of each woman's perspective minimizes character development, and while Haynes' writing is pretty it lacks the emotional depth or rawness that I think this book and it's subject matter really needed with the realities of women's lot in war being tiptoed around, further distancing the reader.

This is also a highly personal criticism but I really didn't enjoy Hayes's portrayal of the goddess, who seemed to lack any sense of gravitas or divinity. Rather reducing such powerful figures as Athena and Hera into 1 dimensional mean girl characters. Hardly in keeping with the "feminist" themes of the book. 

I would also say that it is rather harsh to say that women's voices have been ignored in the Trojan cycle. As if all those Athenian plays built around the figures and words of the women in these stories never existed: Euripides' The Trojan Women, Hecuba, Andromache; Aeschylus' Clytemnestra; Ovid's Heroides which rewrites epic from the points of view of women such as Penelope, Helen and Laodamia,

"He is learning that in any war, the victors may be destroyed as completely as the vanquished. They still have their lives, but they have given up everything else in order to keep them. They sacrifice what they do not realize they have until they have lost it. And so the man who can win the war can only rarely survive the peace." - One of my favourite quotes. 

Age Rating 16 +. Some references to rape but never explicit. 

Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood

"Cat's Eye is the story of Elaine Risley, a controversial painter who
returns to Toronto, the city of her youth, for a retrospective of her art. Engulfed by vivid images of the past, she reminisces about a trio of girls who initiated her into the fierce politics of childhood and its secret world of friendship, longing, and betrayal. Elaine must come to terms with her own identity as a daughter, a lover, and artist, and woman—but above all she must seek release from her haunting memories. Disturbing, hilarious, and compassionate." 

I loved this novel to bits, and it scared me way out of my comfort zone. It was one of the most intensely revealing reflections on childhood and its impact on grown-up life I have ever encountered, simply because the story is so common, and so universal, and so typical. The idea of confronting a childhood bully with one's memories is terrifying, especially as one can never trust the mind to behave as a grown-up when confronted with deeply hidden childhood fears and wishes. 

It touched on a deeply personal aspect of my life. The desperation of trying to understand culture and social realities. The complexity of relationships between women of nearly all ages is often a difficult thing to fully comprehend let alone commit to paper. Generally, we find it easier to communicate with men. While with other women you are forever grasping at straws, unable to determine which layer of superficiality you are dealing with and which of your layers of feigned cordiality or fabricated fellow feeling may win their favour. But Atwood, the mistress of the craft that she is, has brought the private, secretive world of female bonding's alive and demolished one of the greatest pop culture stereotypes ever - that of the mean girl. 

Elaine isn't a very likable character, she does terrible things and becomes a bully in her own right but you can't help but relate to her. She is such a viscerally real person that could be any one of us. She acts believably in every situation, even if it didn't shown her in the best light.  

But Atwood, in her typical style doesn't keep to one theme. While exploring the effects of bullying, Atwood also explores the themes of womanhood and the terrible ways the girls assert dominance and how this snide womanhood follows us into adulthood. This is an exceptional novel and one that I had a difficult time setting aside. The writing is razor-sharp. Based on what I’ve read so far, it seems Atwood doesn’t gravitate towards sentimentality. It works especially well here. There’s much more than what I’ve relayed in this review – you’ll find dry humor, thoughts on marriage, feminism, aging, as well as a child’s exploration of religion. This one, along with Alias Grace, is definitely a clear favourite.

Age Rating 15+. Sex, sexuality, bullying, Adult Topics. 

Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik

"Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her
father's inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty--until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold.

When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk--grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh--Miryem's fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. Set an impossible challenge by the nameless king, Miryem unwittingly spins a web that draws in a peasant girl, Wanda, and the unhappy daughter of a local lord who plots to wed his child to the dashing young tsar.

But Tsar Mirnatius is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and her two unlikely allies embark on a desperate quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power, and love."

Spinning Silver is a loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. I say "loose" because you will recognise certain elements from the original - turning things into gold, the importance of names, etc. - but this is a completely different story with different characters and many new plot lines. This actually disappointed me as I was looking forward to a more recognisable retelling. There's also not just one Rumpelstiltskin character, as several characters embody different aspects of the traditional imp. 

I love that it's a very pastoral fairy tale with forests and country magic. The setting of Russia, with the description of Russian foods and the heavy, oppressive snow was wonderful and made it all the more unique. The setting of the book gives it a lot of it's atmosphere, and it works very well. There are parts that follow the characters through quiet daily farming activities, but there is always magic and fear thrumming just under the surface.

I found it really interesting that Novik explored the idea of a Jewish moneylender in this Rumpelstiltskin. It was unique take and created a very clever way of making something magical into something made of a strong will, and how easily these two concepts can overlap. 

However, structurally I do have a few issues with the book. I counted no less than six different perspectives - honestly, I may have missed someone - and you have to learn the symbol/image for each character, as that is the only way you'll know whose point-of-view the book has moved to. This can get extremely confusing. Unfortunately this caused a disconnect between the characters and myself as I was unable to fully emote with them or become attached. 

Though I appreciate books with multiple layers and complex plots, I think shedding some parts of this would have only benefited it. Some chapters lean away from complex and interesting, and toward dense and confusing. Despite encountering wondrous and unexpected forms of magic, Novik's characters are neither astonished nor surprised. Their flat response evokes a perpetual sense of apathy, a problem that's exacerbated by glacial pacing, further compounded by two of the female protagonists having such similar plot lines and personalities as to feel redundant.

Spinning Silver holds all the ingredients of a magic spell and there are some truly wonderful moments, but the execution leaves one cold and unsatisfied.

Age Rating 15+. Domestic violence, murder, discrimination. 

My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russel

"Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a
precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.

Alternating between Vanessa’s present and her past, My Dark Vanessa juxtaposes memory and trauma with the breathless excitement of a teenage girl discovering the power her own body can wield. Thought-provoking and impossible to put down, this is a masterful portrayal of troubled adolescence and its repercussions that raises vital questions about agency, consent, complicity, and victimhood."

This book was difficult. Difficult to read, and even more difficult to determine how I felt at the end. 

How do you best write about a fictional love affair between a teacher and a 15-year-old student that is actually a predatory relationship? There are no easy answers to that question but that is what happens in My Dark Vanessa which alternates between 2000 and 2017 as we see how Vanessa Wye is groomed and then raped by her teacher Jacob Strane. We see the repercussions she must deal with as an adult who does not allow herself to realize that the relationship was, in fact abusive. We see how a child is forced to carry the responsibility the adults around her should have assumed themselves. The delicate and fraught nature of adolescence is captured well.

This book is definitely very, very well-written and the first half is well paced. There is a strong sense of place— the landscape, the sparseness. The prose is tight and careful, intimate and descriptive. The protagonist, Vanessa, is fully realized and the author does a good job of showing Vanessa’s struggle to face what she experienced. Her point of view and how it shifts over time is expertly managed and feels honest. You see how pernicious this kind of abuse is because it makes Vanessa doubt herself and lose herself and see herself, rather than the predator, as the problem. There is an interesting and relentlessly claustrophobic quality to the prose. You want to escape the quiet horror of Vanessa’s story while also wanting to see how it all ends, if she is going to be okay. You want there to be a freeing moment of clean air without knowing if you will get it.

There is some interesting cultural context developed through pop culture references, Lolita, and the #MeToo movement. I suspect we are going to see quite a few novels doing this over the next several years as writers try to distill into fiction what has been happening culturally with regard to sexual violence. There were ways the people in Vanessa’s life responded to her that were infuriating and inadequate and that is, all too often, how these things go.

The book does run too long. After about 250 pages, there is a thematic repetition that doesn’t serve the novel well. Vanessa bites her cheek constantly. It’s like, girl, is there anything left on the inside of your mouth??? Vanessa is fully realized but most of the other characters don’t get as much depth, though they really should. 

The real challenge I had with this book is that at times, the abuse felt romanticized, eroticized. It gave me pause. As a mature reader, the way the relationship is described is quietly horrifying. However I am unsure if a less mature reader would fully pick up on the horror. As the novel goes on there were so many rape scenes (and I will always call it rape because that’s what it was), that it just felt… somewhat gratuitous. And, I suspect, that’s kind of the point, that Vanessa, particularly at fifteen, was torn between love and repulsion, that she was shaped into someone who would see the situation as romantic while, with the distance as readers, we understand the situation as appalling. Strane is clearly a horrible piece of shit. Russell makes that crystal clear. But… I don’t know. Does she go far enough?

My Dark Vanessa is certainly not an easy book and I get why some readers have found it to be over the top regarding the descriptions of abuse that the main character faces. I don’t share that same opinion entirely, but there were moments when I questioned the sheer number of rape scenes that Kate Elizabeth Russell chose to include, and/or the gratuitous level of detail they held; because even without explicitly showing the brutal assaults on Vanessa’s autonomy, her “relationship” with Strane was awful and his paedophilia was always obvious to the reader, as was its effect on 15 y/o Vanessa.

Age Rating 18+. The highest rating I think I have ever given a book. This is certainly not appropriate for younger readers. 

Heroes and Villains - Angela Carter

"After the apocalypse the world is neatly divided. Rational
civilization rests with the Professors in their steel and concrete villages; marauding tribes of Barbarians roam the surrounding jungles; mutilated Out People inhabit the burnt scars of cities.

But Marianne, a Professor's daughter, is carried away into the jungle--a grotesque vegetable paradise--where she will become the captive bride of Jewel, the proud and beautiful Barbarian."

I haven't read anything close to this book. Possibly the closest is Kundera's "Unbearable Lightness of Being." They share the same brutal isolated tone and sex is a main theme in both. But other then that they share nothing. Heroes and Villain's is stunningly unique, in content and writing style. It sucks you in and leaves you reeling. Truly an excellent novel. 

However, it certainly isn't an easy read. As said above it is brutal, but it is also twisted and dark. The themes that it covers ranges from abusive relationships, rape, abuse, toxic co-dependency, the break down of society, religion and the viciousness of the human spirit. 

If you come into the book expecting it to be structured like a normal novel with a likeable protagonist and clear goal you will be disappointed. Marianne is a terrible women. As vicious and brutal as Jewel. Heroes and Villains is dreamlike, brutal and beautifully twisted. Gothic fantasy storytelling at its finest. Marianne and Jewel are two incredibly compelling characters, who I loved, despite disliking them very much. They are less characters and more symbols. They are tools with which Carter uses to construct certain arguments and contrasts. The writing is so so beautiful. Full of full bodied prose. Even when describing awful things, it envelopes you in the cloying atmosphere of the story. There is such a strong sense of place even with minimal world building. 

As a reader I enjoyed the progression of Jewel and Marianne's relationship, this unlikely romance, if you can call it that,  that would go sour in some places and then pick up again when you least expected it. It was so human yet so primal. Their story is symbolically underpinned by the Adam and Eve mythos, and this also handsomely features in the form of a grotesque tattoo on Jewels torso of the scene where Eve offers Adam the forbidden fruit. In fact, Jewel is somewhat of a synthetic messiah; a puppet controlled by the ominous 'Doctor'; a madman who is trying to fabricate his own religion using members of the savage tribe. Jewel with his imposing physique and handsome looks doubles as Adam, Jesus and other religious characters. This aggressive reliance on each other, the love and hate sitting side by side was an interesting dynamic. It is definitely the best representation of an unhealthy relationship I have read. 

I really enjoy dark novels that deal with mature content, contemplate the human condition and what we can do to each other. However there were moments in this book that genuinely disturbed me and I am unsure if where entirely necessary or handled in the best way possible.  Marianne gets raped by Jewel, but it is so offhanded and quickly dealt with. Marianne isn't even very angry at him for it and she doesn't seem to suffer any emotional consequences. If fact she goes on to marry him and have a lot more sex. I just... 

Another scene that really got to me is the scene in which Marianne rapes a mentally unwell 13 year old boy. I am sorry but why was this scene necessary. I understand that Carter was exploring the human condition but what did this scene bring to the overall story. If the point was to shock me it sure did that well. 

Age Rating 16+. A brutal novel. 

Native Tongue (#1) - Suzette Haden Elgin

"Set in the twenty-second century, the novel tells of a world where

women are once again property, denied civil rights and banned from public life. Earth's wealth depends on interplanetary commerce with alien races, and linguists--a small, clannish group of families--have become the ruling elite by controlling all interplanetary communication. Their women are used to breed perfect translators for all the galaxies' languages.

Nazareth Chornyak, the most talented linguist of the family, is exhausted by her constant work translating for trade organizations, supervising the children's language education, running the compound, and caring for the elderly men. She longs to retire to the Barren House, where women past childbearing age knit, chat, and wait to die. What Nazareth comes to discover is that a slow revolution is going on in the Barren Houses: there, word by word, women are creating a language of their own to free them from men's control."

An amazing, amazing concept that I was so excited to see explored in this speculative fiction. As someone that loves learning, and learning about languages, this book sounded right up my alley. It was full of amazing ideas (the creation of a secret language for women who have been oppressed).The standpoint on language reminds me a lot of 1984 and the Newspeak dictionary, the idea that taking away words for certain concepts or creating/encoding words for others can change the way people think and behave and affect whether they have the capacity to rebel against an authoritarian regime. But, it lacked several things, in my opinion, that prevented it from living up to the proclamation: "feminist science fiction classic."

One of those things was characterization. The first one hundred or so pages in the book had no distinct character for the reader to engage with. There are several plot points expounded in male points of view that readers are supposed to be disgusted by (and are disgusted by!. There is one storyline involving a woman, lacking any real depth, killing out of revenge; and then, there is the mention of some other characters who may be important later. That's it.

In my opinion, having no characters with any emotional depth for the reader to latch onto was a serious flaw. It made the pace slow, and frustrated my sense of who or what to believe in in this story.

Another problem I had with this book was the "good guys/bad guys" dichotomy applied by the author. It's simple: All women are good (even the one lady who systematically kills people), all men are bad (even the one guy who appeared to treat a female character like she was equal in intellect and status). I, personally, don't like my contemporary fiction to be so black/white. It is boring, and it is not believable. It narrows the reader's frame of mind and ability to objectively engage with the work. 

Another serious issue I had with this book is the underutilisation of the Aliens. For a book prominently featuring the idea of communication with aliens, it's quite disappointing that there is not one single alien character developed. We don't know how a single alien thinks; what their cultures want, or how or why they are sending representatives to Earth to teach babies their languages. None do any interacting with any of the characters. I thought that the women could learn for the aliens, realise how strange and awful their society was through contact with others. Big missed opportunity....

The final problem that I had with the book was this - the notion that women should have their own language in the first place. Don't get me wrong! I love imagining the subversive power that a secret language has for the oppressed secondary citizen! It was wonderfully done, and very inspiring! But...Elgin, and by extension, her characters, believe that one's native language creates one's reality - how one perceives the world (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis), and allowing the women in this story to create and use their OWN language will change their reality. I am all for the exploration of that notion. 

The problem with all this is that Elgin really believes - IN REAL LIFE - that women should have a language separate from men. And - in doing so - that we would be essentially better off as separate from them altogether? She believes there are things one can experience as a woman that men could not possibly conceive of. We-ellllllll....I have to disagree. I thought that the language would allow the women to communicate freely, feel autonomy and potentially start a rebellion. Kind of like a women strike. But for the concept that men and women should be permanently separated feels like a terribly cynical view. Misogyny is taught, not inherent. Men can be taught differently. 

Age Rating 16+ Lot of sex references, murder, and infant mortality. 

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

"Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed."

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On one hand I think that the subject matter was handed with delicacy. The writing was subtle and at times very beautiful. I think Aibileen's chapters where beautiful and full of soul. A perfect cocktail of love and melancholy. She reminded me of maids I knew. You get a good idea of the atmosphere of the time and place, I really felt transported to Mississippi. 

I also thoroughly enjoyed the character of Minny, she was sassy and more vocal in her anger. I think she and Aibileen contrasted each other well with their different attitudes. 

However, I was uncomfortable with the tone of the book; I felt that the author played to very stereotypical themes, and gave the characters (especially the African American ones) very obvious voices and structure in terms constructing their mental character. I understand that the author wrote much of this as a result of her experiences growing up in the south in the 1960's, and that it may seem authentic to her, and that she was even trying to be respectful of the people and the time; but, ultimately, I thought that it was written from a very narrow, idealised, almost childish perspective of race relations without a true appreciation of the humanity and soul of the characters. It had a nostalgic, feel good vibe that didn't sit well with me. 

As a white South African that grew up with maids my experience with the "help" was obviously very different to that of an American. However I am unsure that this book represented either side totally accurately. Stockett brushed over the true deep anger that I am sure that the Maids dealt with and shrunk it to the feeling of annoyance of picking up towels.

The structure of the book also focused more on the white characters and their struggles in their life and dealing with the first realisation that they might be in a racist world. So the ultimate theme & message (i.e. "why, we're all the same - there's no difference between us after all!") only reinforced my feeling that this is written from someone who has a very undeveloped or underdeveloped concept of race and race relations in the United States.

I applaud her effort and think it would be a great introduction to race relations in the South for someone new to the topic and might be a little hesitant to start. But it is very surface level without any real deep dive into the horrors inflicted during this period of time or the psyche of the people living on the other side of the train line. 

Age Rating 13+. Touches on some serious subjects such as domestic abuse but nothing very inappropriate. 

Women in Political Theory - Diana H Cooles

This book looks at how misogyny and western political thought were intertwined in their origins and how this relationship has worked itself out through the classic texts of traditional and modern political theory. The concluding chapter examines contemporary feminist theory by discussing post-structuralist and post-modernist themes, which allows for a reappraisal of the critical perspectives brought to bear in the earlier chapters and for a discussion of recent feminist developments in terms of textual analysis and critiques of foundational categories and concepts.

A thoroughly astounding book. I sat breathless after finishing, all the new information whizzing around my brain. Brilliantly paced, it is a long chronological adventure through the perceptions of women in political and philosophical realms. Not a book of politics or philosophical theorisation in and of itself it is more a exploration of other's ideas and the way that that perception has evolved and interwoven in time. 

I found that the structure of the book was excellent, things moved on in a fluid way and it made the flow of time and perception wonderfully obvious. 

Diana Cooles's writing is personally sublime. Her style is right up my street, she writes in such a precise, unemotional and clean way. Complex ideas and concepts are gotten across succinctly and quickly with no unnecessary information or waffle. 

To be fair, the language used can be difficult in places. It is a highly academic book that needs to be read in small chunks. Definitely not a speed read. The discussion is also admittedly very Western focused. However Diana openly admits that and states that lack of non-western theories and political discussion is a continuing issue in modern feminism in general. 

Overall a wonderful and highly recommended book. A great introduction of feminist politics and philosophy in general. I would say that is reminds me of A Quest for a Moral Compass by Kenan Malik. The same brilliant ability to make the difficult, and at time elitist, accessible to all. 

Age Rating 15+. Nothing untoward however the concepts discussed do require a high degree of previous reading, intimate knowledge of Freud and quite a bit of patience.  

The Female Eunuch - Germaine Greer

"The clarion call to change that galvanized a generation.
When Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch was first published it created a shock wave of recognition in women, one that could be felt around the world. It went on to become an international bestseller, translated into more than twelve languages, and a landmark in the history of the women's movement. Positing that sexual liberation is the key to women's liberation, Greer looks at the inherent and unalterable biological differences between men and women as well as at the profound psychological differences that result from social conditioning. Drawing on history, literature, biology, and popular culture, Greer's searing examination of women's oppression is a vital, passionately argued social commentary that is both an important historical record of where we've been and a shockingly relevant treatise on what still remains to be achieved."

Sorry about the extended absence, was in South Africa on urgent family matters and didnt have anytime to read or update. 

It's a classic, which is why it should still be required reading for any feminist trying to educate themselves, but it's very, very much of its time. Very much the work of a second waver with all the problematic attitudes towards sexuality, homosexuality and race that that implies. Worth reading as an historical record, but not something that I base my own thought on.

Many of the things she talks about are outdated or becoming so, which is touching in a way as it means we're making progress but many of them are still cuttingly relevant today. Young girls still grow up dreaming of romance and magical kisses while boys are taught to fuck. Women are still penalised in marriage and children are still forced inwards in a nuclear family. This is a powerful book with some poignant insights.

However, Greer, at times, inadvertently makes me laugh by criticising academic feminism in a highly academic book and criticising the classism in feminism while dealing mainly with white middle class issues. 

In the course of The Female Eunuch, Greer manages to emphasise the fact that women—from the moment of their birth—are conditioned by society to act, dress, speak, work, etc in a certain way, and that that way is designed to subjugate women. She quotes people across the ages on women (and the majority of those quotes show just how terribly women have been regarded and treated). She urges revolution, she pokes fun, she is ruthless in her attack but she dilutes that attack by being swayed by her own righteous indignation at the wrongs women suffer. What I found most annoying about the book were the many sweeping generalisations Greer makes and her near - misogynistic view of non-radical women. 

She wants to upturn society, rewriting economics, marriage laws, and the very concept of love and affection (which she seems to either disbelieve in or disapprove of). She doesn't just hate the way women are treated in society; she hates society and the entire structure of humanity, and would, it seems, throw out every law and tradition in a second if she could.  This, along with her tendency towards Freudian-style psychobabble (even though she criticizes Freud, the language is of Freud) and the pretentious language of the intellectual makes her increasingly annoying. 

Overall a book to read from a historical stand point coming to it with your own well rounded views already formed. 

Age Rating 16+. Adult content and topics and academic language needing previous knowledge and reading to be able to disect.