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A review by stefhyena
Red for Revenge by Fanny Blake
2.0
I got given this book and it did not look at all like something I would normally read. But it was so short (91 pages with a large font) that I thought I would give it a try for relaxation. Relaxation is exactly what it was- it was just funny and wise enough not to be offensive, while being too simple to really take any effort to read. The writing was a lot better than I expected (perhaps partly because of the brevity so we weren't subjected to lingering descriptions of meals or sex nor was there the overwritten angst chick-lit books are often full of.
Blake didn't bother trying to avoid cliches, instead she played with them. I liked Carla from the beginning because she seemed able to see her own flaws and take responsibility and some of her answers to Maggie's more cliched comments were a great way to undercut misogynist patterns that women often participate in. The friendship between the two women was refreshing at first (it waned by the end of the book which became for each of them more about individual "empowerment" than how they supported each other). Sonia was an interesting character, perhaps the brevity of the book once again did her a favour- we are left with a complex dynamic as Blake writes out the original cliche (but doesn't have time and space to do it completely).
Phil is such a cliche, but I love that zero time is wasted on his POV. He is just the bad guy. End of story! The economic aspects of Maggie's "Revenge" (ie how that would impact on her) are ignored and the book is a bit fluffy when it comes to the reality of women's experiences. It also drips with class privilege and consumerism making it's questions and answers mostly shallow. Of course it is heteronormative (I thought it was going to unbalance that briefly but Maggie dreams of "a new man" (p69) and is reassured to find she is normal, that "that side of her hadn't shrivelled up and died" (p83)
So in short the book has all the usual chick-lit flaws but is paced a lot better and has two dynamic heroines that just don't have time for excessive instrospection and angst! If you like your feminism reasonably light-weight then go for it!
Blake didn't bother trying to avoid cliches, instead she played with them. I liked Carla from the beginning because she seemed able to see her own flaws and take responsibility and some of her answers to Maggie's more cliched comments were a great way to undercut misogynist patterns that women often participate in. The friendship between the two women was refreshing at first (it waned by the end of the book which became for each of them more about individual "empowerment" than how they supported each other). Sonia was an interesting character, perhaps the brevity of the book once again did her a favour- we are left with a complex dynamic as Blake writes out the original cliche (but doesn't have time and space to do it completely).
Phil is such a cliche, but I love that zero time is wasted on his POV. He is just the bad guy. End of story! The economic aspects of Maggie's "Revenge" (ie how that would impact on her) are ignored and the book is a bit fluffy when it comes to the reality of women's experiences. It also drips with class privilege and consumerism making it's questions and answers mostly shallow. Of course it is heteronormative (I thought it was going to unbalance that briefly but Maggie dreams of "a new man" (p69) and is reassured to find she is normal, that "that side of her hadn't shrivelled up and died" (p83)
So in short the book has all the usual chick-lit flaws but is paced a lot better and has two dynamic heroines that just don't have time for excessive instrospection and angst! If you like your feminism reasonably light-weight then go for it!