Read Women discussion

I think I'm just going to read as many as possible for this challenge rather than setting an actual number. Here are my most likely to reads:

Paperback:
Breasts and Eggs
Earthlings
Paradise of the Blind

Kindle:
The Break
Maresi
The Disaster Tourist
YEFON: The Red Necklace

Audiobook:
The Book of Etta
Ogadinma Or, Everything Will Be All Right
The Book of Flora
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

#1 The Break by Katherena Vermette 5*
A raw, honest and heartbreaking tale of love, loss, violence and survival in a Métis community. Brutal yet tender. These women are strong yet broken. They are complex and real. I was blown away

#2 The Book of Etta by Meg Elison, audiobook, 4*
Part 2 of an apocalyptic sci fi triliogy. I'm really enjoying this series for it's feminist stance and multiple, complex LGBTQ characters

Both of these books contain a lot of strong sexual violence

#3 Ogadinma Or, Everything Will Be All Right by Ukamaka Olisakwe, audiobook, 2*

This book raises many important feminist issues which is why I wanted to read it. However I did not find the characters to be very believable. In the first scene, Ogadinma finds herself in a terrible situation where she knows exactly what is going to happen to her and why but is powerless to do anything to stop it. After this, Ogadinma becomes inexplicably naive and trusting of people despite the terrible things that have already happened. A lot more things happen and Ogadinma remains the same right up until the end where (view spoiler)[ she suddenly becomes a strong, articulate and opinionated woman with no fear or shame whatsoever who suddenly knows exactly what she wants from life and how to get it. (hide spoiler)] This sudden change was not believable for me. Perhaps if it had happened gradually, but there was not enough depth to the characters to allow for this

#4 The Book of Flora by Meg Elison, audiobook, 2*

I really enjoyed the first 2 instalments of this trilogy but I didn't connect with the third in the same way. I found Flora's voice to be less authentic and the characters not as strong. At first I found the new storylines to be a little lazy and unbelievable, but by the end they got completely ridiculous

#5 Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami 4*

This book is split into two parts which I believe were initially intended to be separate. I loved book 1 and struggled a little with book 2 at first but liked it by the end. The writing is fantastic throughout and many important issues facing women in modern Japan are tackled. I felt like the focus on feminist issues was achieved more naturally in book 1 than in book 2. Book 1 is more compact and focuses on a weekend reunion of 3 related female characters who all have distinct voices and feelings about their own bodies. There was some excellent development to Natsuko's (the narrator) character in book 2 that was a little lacking in book 1. I struggled at first with the many different peripheral characters who come and go throughout book 2 but felt that it came together by the end. I preferred the intense style of book 1 to the prolonged, disjointed style of book 2. Overall, a great and very interesting read.

#6 Earthlings 5* A fantastic and surreal story of the extreme effects of enforced gender role expectations

#7 Maresi 3* This was a good story recommended for a young budding feminist. A little too YA for me, but still good

#8 The Salt Roads 4* A magical tale, epic in it's scope and meaning

#9 Real World Another dark feminist Japanese horror from Kirino, who has a fantasticly creepy talent for getting into the minds of misogynists

What a great list of feminst fiction Hannah. I love it myself but find it hard to categorize something as feminst (unless it's been promoted as such) until after I've read it. I'm going to add a few of these to my tbr, thanks!

Impressive list, Hannah.