Reviews with content warning for Violence - An Untamed State

I don't judge anyone for reading this, but Christ... And the bad guys being like militant leftists is also weird? I'm not sure, I'm just gonna drop it imho.

Seriously, all respect to Roxane Gay, but I cannot

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chrliesangel28's review

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emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was a hard book to read. They really described what she went through during her time in captivity. It also took time in between to have her tell us about her family, meeting her husband and her child. I do recommend it but know it is rough to read.

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donutlookaway's review against another edition

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could not stomach the scenes with miri and her captors.

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annie_reads_books's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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melissalivanos's review

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The trigger warnings on this are a small novel in themselves. This book is an absolutely brutal but very well told story. Proceed with caution.

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emzireads's review

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.5

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skorned's review

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Awful and beautiful and gripping and so so well crafted. Roxane Gay is so talented at weaving characters and developing our understanding of the characters and what's happening. I did not expect to race through this like I did; i knew it would be a tough read, and it was, but oh was it worth it.

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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

An Untamed State is a dark, disturbing and confronting read. Told in two parts, it is the story of Mirielle Duval Jameson. She is a Haitian, married to an American and living in Miami. On a trip back to Haiti to introduce her parents to her baby son, she is kidnapped and held captive for thirteen days before her father, a wealthy businessman, pays and ransom and she is eventually freed. The first half of the book is centred on her kidnapping and period in captivity, with numerous flashbacks to her previous life, especially her relationship with her husband Michael. This section is packed full of trigger warnings, particularly for physical and sexual violence. What I found interesting was the depiction of Mirielle’s mental state, and the tricks she used to try and survive, tricks that saw her try to dissociate from what she was experiencing. The second part of the book looks at what happens after she was freed. While her physical scars were horrific the mental and emotional scars were worse. Gay did an excellent job of presenting Mirielle’s pain, her visceral vulnerability as she learned to cope with her sense of security and self-worth, her very identity, having been ripped from her, and her efforts, some more constructive than others, to learn to live with unforgettable trauma.

This was a deeply uncomfortable and confronting read, unflinching but not gratuitous, one that exposes the dark underbelly of Haiti and the toll that extracts. It highlights the economic iniquities in that country, the anger and resentment evoked, and showcases one way those tensions play out. I can’t say I enjoyed reading this book - the subject matter precludes that - but I don’t regret the reading experience.

“I did not deserve the unwanted attentions of a man like you. It is often women who pay the price for what men want.”

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