BOok ReviewZelda is 21 years old, on the fetal alcohol spectrum, but most importantly: on her way to being a Viking. Zelda is determined to be more than her FASD and when she learns her brother isn’t always making the most honorable choices to help the family tribe, she decides she must step up to help. Trigger warnings: excessive profanity, derogatory language, violence towards disabled people, sexual harassment/assault, domestic violence, talk of abortion, and ableist language Full disclosure: I originally picked this book for the cover. I loved the colors, the image, the title; so when I learned it was also a story from the perspective of someone with a developmental disorder—a perspective I haven’t see much of—I instantly choose it as one of my book box subscription picks. This is one of those reads that you enjoy the experience, but once you’re done you realize there were some good sized issues along the way. But let’s start with what I liked! The book held my attention. The plot was interesting and kept me turning the pages. A girl who wants to be a Viking, is trying to figure out the and finds herself involved with gang members? It’s the right amount of interesting and quirky for me. Zelda is also a fun narrator to follow. I enjoyed the way she related things in her life to Vikings: one should get a job to help the tribe provide treasure to the hoard. The way it helped her relate to the world and helped others relate to her was intriguing to read. AK47, or Annie, is probably my favorite part of the novel. She treats everyone just as a person but within their limitations. She reminds all of them what’s right and wrong but pushes them to be their own person. She delivers some feminist messages about being who you want to be despite what society thinks you should be. But she is a little flat. Now, one thing I can’t speak to about Zelda is how accurate she represents a high functioning adult on the fetal alcohol spectrum. I don’t know enough about it to speak on its accuracy. The one thing I will say is Zelda states at the beginning of the novel most people with FASD have some facial abnormalities but she doesn’t, she’s just a small girl. I personally don’t like this; if I’m reading about a marginalized group, especially one not written about often, I would prefer that the character depicting the group isn’t tailored to be more socially acceptable. Understanding that not everyone in a group is the same is important, but it didn’t feel like this was the message MacDonald was trying to present. My other major issue with this novel was how Zelda was the center of a lot of sexual encounters. To be clear, there is quite a bit in the book about Zelda and her boyfriend Marxy—a young man who is also developmentally disabled—wanting to have sex and their attempt at that. This isn’t my problem. I believe discussions about adults who have a disability wanting to have sex is important dialogue and something that should be discussed and normalized. I really appreciated that this was something the book touched on. What I’m talking about is how other men Zelda comes into contact with constantly talk about how hot and attractive she is. It makes me feel like having Zelda not have the facial abnormalities typically associated with the disorder was to make her this sex icon that is lusted over in the book for plot points. It gives the novel a slimy vibe of exploitation. The cursing in the book was a lot in an awkward way. Now, I swear really regularly; I have no issue with people swearing. But the use of shit-heels, fuck-dick… it felt awkward in the dialogue. And was used to the point of trying to be a quirky comic relief but not succeeding. Overall, between some awkward feeling cursing, the unnecessary sexuality, and my inability to say how accurate the representation is, this novel gets ⚔️2/5 viking swords. I wanted to like this novel more than I do, and the reason it’s still getting 2 swords is I did enjoy Zelda’s character, the premise of the novel, and it reads pretty quickly. But the issues I have with the novel are too large to look past, unfortunately. Feminist AnalysisI’m very conflicted about the feminist nature of this novel. Reading on a surface level, there are a lot of amazing moments! Zelda has no fears about being a female in a male dominated world. She wants to be a female Viking even though that’s almost unheard of. She decides it’s okay to refer to her boyfriend as a fair maiden, and she listens to what AK47 tells her.
Annie, lovingly called AK47 by Zelda, is a badass in the novel. She openly discusses the pitfalls of being a woman with Zee like how they have to dress extra nice to be considered professional. And talks about how sex is whatever a person wants to make it, not what society tells them. She encourages Zee to embrace her sexuality and teaches her safe sex rather than abstinence. She discusses abortions with her as a woman’s choice. It’s all very empowering. But if you look deeper, at how Zelda is sexualized for plot points, at the attempted rape scene, it makes everything else feel gross. I was always look at the story and ask if the story could have worked/given the same messages without issues like this. And in this story I feel like it could have. It could have also felt more okay if it felt like other messages were also trying to be made. Such as discussing how people with disabilities and physical abnormalities are/can be attractive but it’s not what I was left with. And I wish it was cause that’s an important message. While I think readers can still walk away with the outwardly positive messages in the book, it feels too undermined to be considered feminist to me.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Hello, love! Please, don't mind the cat hair. I'm a lover of all genres (except romance, ironic, I know), and potentially --accidentally-- obsessed with feminist literary theory. Feel free to scroll around, hopefully see a few cats, and find a good new book or two!
ArchivesCategories
All
|