It must be wild inside the brain of Elana K. Arnold. The sheer uniqueness of every one of her books just blows my mind. How does she come up with this stuff?! I have no idea, but if she's got any tips, I'm listening! I am going to try to not give much away about this one, because as always with Ms. Arnold's work, figuring out what exactly you're reading is half the fun! But I will tell you why you should invest your time in this one, so let's go!
- • As always, it's very driven by feminism and a general "screw the patriarchy" approach. I mean this book screams for women to take matters into their own hands, and to fight back at every turn. And frankly, if there was ever a time we needed to hear this, it's now. It's not just highlighting atrocities in Bisou's modern life, it's going back further to showcase how much crap women have gone through since forever.
- • There's a huge focus on family and friendships. Gosh, I love when this happens. Especially when it happens in conjunction with a powerfully feminist narrative. Because women need to have each other's backs, yeah? And this book illustrates all the good things that can come from women garnering strength from one another, and it's damn lovely.
- • But men aren't evil- not all of them! The author doesn't vilify men in general here; she just vilifies the ones who are villains. Which is as it should be. There is discussion about just the general differences between the world as seen through a man's eyes versus a woman's, but it isn't making the (decent) dudes out as bad guys, just saying that they need to stop for a second and take a look at what women are dealing with.
- • It kept me guessing. Oh, I love when books do that! In this one, there are two central mysteries, and I genuinely did not know what direction either would go in. Made the book very readable.
Bottom Line: It'll make you angry, but it'll also make you hopeful. And then maybe you'll chant some versus of "I Am Woman", especially with the roaring.