Tlotlo Tsamaase

Womb City

—Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi

Lindsay

He said to the police, “Don’t let her go. She’s a criminal, a killer.”

And they asked me, “Is what he says true?”

“I am a killer, but I’ve committed no crime. Like you, I kill only criminals.”

“But he is a prince, and a hero. He’s not a criminal.”

“For me the feats of kings and princes are no more than crimes, for I do not see things the way you do.”

“You are a criminal,” they said, “and your mother is a criminal.”

“My mother was not a criminal. No woman can be a criminal. To be a criminal one must be a man.”

“Now look here, what is this that you are saying?” 

"I am saying that you are criminals, all of you: the fathers, the uncles, the husbands, the pimps, the lawyers, the doctors, the journalists, and all men of all professions.”

They said, “You are a savage and dangerous woman.”

“I am speaking the truth. And truth is savage and dangerous.”

For death and truth are similar in that they both require a great courage if one wishes to face them. And truth is like death in that it kills. When I killed I did it with truth not with a knife. That is why they are afraid and in a hurry to execute me. They do not fear my knife. It is my truth which frightens them. This fearful truth gives me great strength. It protects me from fearing death, or life, or hunger, or nakedness, or destruction. It is this fearful truth which prevents me from fearing the brutality of rulers and policemen.

So what if I was a man before I got transplanted into this body? Is it really that bad? And aren’t souls genderless?

I wish they’d stop seeing me as a woman, and maybe then I’d be free to be what I want.

“I never wanted shame or guilt to silence my truth. Fear destroys people. The world tells us to bury our emotions, use masculinity as a weapon. I wanted to be both strong and soft, but . . . I struggled.”

I sound like a cliché, and I hate it, hate it when you always have to associate the woman they’re damaging to some woman in their life for them to understand that what they’re doing is actually wrong as if they can’t realize how wrong it already is. She’s a person,

“Culture conditions us to not seek forgiveness from women,” he whispers. “That we do no wrong, that women are to blame for the damage we impose on them. Forces us to castrate our emotions.

Katheryn

I am speaking the truth. And the truth is savage and dangerous. 

You're a chess piece. Accept the moves until you're the one mak8ng the moves. Why are you trying so hard to be good? I won't silence or criticize you, so be you. There's nothing wrong with wanting everything, wanting power.

The system is bad and you have to be worse to play it well.

This was a real slow burn for me. I think their marketing department sold it short because I did 

 get “Handmaids Tale” and whatever futuristic bend they were adding to it, and I think that sold it short. I felt like there was 

 world building for a book I didn’t get the sense had a sequel or prequel planned, and often it was at the expense of the plot, which actually had a really interesting direction. I was really interested in a character that was not necessarily likeable or traditionally sympathetic and am curious to read more from this author for that angle alone. There was so much to like about this but I don’t know if as a mood reader it wasn’t the right time for me or if this is another one of those “it would make more sense if I had kids” stories, but this book and I missed our connection. I would absolutely pick up the next book by this author without hesitation though because there were BONES in this book for sure. 

Apiecalypse Jen

This was a real slow burn for me. I think their marketing department sold it short because I did not get “Handmaids Tale” and whatever futuristic bend they were adding to it, and I think that sold it short. I felt like there was so much world building for a book I didn’t get the sense had a sequel or prequel planned, and often it was at the expense of the plot, which actually had a really interesting direction. I was really interested in a character that was not necessarily likeable or traditionally sympathetic and am curious to read more from this author for that angle alone. There was so much to like about this but I don’t know if as a mood reader it wasn’t the right time for me or if this is another one of those “it would make more sense if I had kids” stories, but this book and I missed our connection. I would absolutely pick up the next book by this author without hesitation though because there were BONES in this book for sure. 

After taking part in just about every goodreads giveaway possible, I finally got approved for the audio from NetGalley. I love the cover, and I really wanted to dig into this one.

Unfortunately, this may have arrived to me at just the wrong time or something, or perhaps not. It just didn’t grip me, didn’t work.

I sadly found the main character to be incredibly unlikable. So even with her living in and through trauma, there isn’t necessarily enough for me to grab onto to care. For me, adultery just turns me off to pretty much anything you could possibly say, so although it’s about her having control over something, any little thing, it just doesn’t matter to me. It’s wrong. Doesn’t matter if I understand the angle.

With that being said, it left the story feeling like it was really missing something, and in that sense, it read as sadly boring, and even confusing at some points. I think the confusion was meant to be, in part, showing the detachment from the main character, but it didn’t exactly work for me. Which is really sad, because the snippets of background world you get are really interesting. You’re dropped into this sort of Afro-futuristic Botswana where technology has reached all new heights—people can live longer, transfer consciousness into other bodies, and augment themselves—but sadly these heights are still being used to further invade women’s space. And in this case, sadly their literal minds and memories, and nothing is safe.

C. J. Daley 

After taking part in just about every goodreads giveaway possible, I finally got approved for the audio from NetGalley. I love the cover, and I really wanted to dig into this one.

Unfortunately, this may have arrived to me at just the wrong time or something, or perhaps not. It just didn’t grip me, didn’t work.

I sadly found the main character to be incredibly unlikable. So even with her living in and through trauma, there isn’t necessarily enough for me to grab onto to care. For me, adultery just turns me off to pretty much anything you could possibly say, so although it’s about her having control over something, any little thing, it just doesn’t matter to me. It’s wrong. Doesn’t matter if I understand the angle.

With that being said, it left the story feeling like it was really missing something, and in that sense, it read as sadly boring, and even confusing at some points. I think the confusion was meant to be, in part, showing the detachment from the main character, but it didn’t exactly work for me. Which is really sad, because the snippets of background world you get are really interesting. You’re dropped into this sort of Afro-futuristic Botswana where technology has reached all new heights—people can live longer, transfer consciousness into other bodies, and augment themselves—but sadly these heights are still being used to further invade women’s space. And in this case, sadly their literal minds and memories, and nothing is safe.

Womb City

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