Book Review: A Woman Built by Man edited by S.H. Cooper & Elle Turpitt

Hello, everyone! I'm back after my brief but much needed hiatus. I've decided to stop accepting ARC's and am focusing on my tbr for a bit because it was all becoming too stressful and unfun. We'll see how this goes, lol. Anyhow, here's a very good book you might want to read (and it's on Kindle Unlimited if you subscribe) ↓ 

A Woman Built by Man edited by S.H. Cooper & Elle Turpitt

Released February 2022

Source: My TBR Pile

Goodreads | Amazon

A Woman Built by Man is a collage of 21 horror tales that seek to crawl under the skin and deconstruct the many ways women are built up and broken down by a patriarchal society. And the many ways they're finally saying, "Enough."

My 2 Cents for Free!

I was going to do a write-up on each story but decided to focus on the ones that I liked best instead. Call it laziness or call it not wanting to sit with the content of some of them for too long. Probably a bit of both. I read every one but I had to take a bit of a break after some of the heavier ones so it took longer to finish this collection than usual. Read the content warnings at the end of the book if you need them. So here are my personal favorites with some very brief thoughts. Yours will probably be different. Give it a read and let me know!

Every Woman Knows This by Laurel Hightower Ugh, some men and their entitlement to a smile, ffs. What is the deal with that shit? Anyhow this is a vicious and perfectly told tale of an entitled man and his casual harassment that takes a turn he didn’t expect. It captures the fear of a woman just trying to live her life and dealing with harassment for simply existing. 

She Sings of Pain and Sorrow by Holley Cornetto A story of mythical creatures and greedy, selfish, stupid men, of imprisonment and unending torment and a despair so deep there’s no fixing it. I loved this story but it’s incredibly dark. These stories aren’t playing around and may need to be read in small doses. This cannot be stressed enough. 

The Thing with Feathers by Tonya Walter Hatred, rebirth, and revenge fuel this harrowing tale of domestic abuse. 

Youngblood by Lindz McLeod A young woman takes drastic measures to rid herself of a pesky ex when the people who could do something downplay her fear. This was so unique. 

New Lines from Which to Shape Her Body by Nikki R. Leigh This story was SO chilling. If they could do it, they would. 😩 Quite horrifying. I can’t think about this one anymore. 

Last Night I Was Having A Drink At The Slippery Nipple by Amanda Michele This was a nice break from all the gloom and seriousness and it made me laugh. Was it supposed to? I don’t know but it did and I love it for that. 

Maddy Long Legs by Olivia White Omg 😱 I loved this. It was horrific. 

M.E. And Her by Lea Storry In a not-too-distant future, the wealthy can preserve themselves forever. This was my face when I realized how old the teller of the story actually was 😳. It's a stark look at ageism. 

Bambolina, Bambolina by G.G. Silverman This was melancholy, bitter, and sweet and all those things rolled up into a terrific little gut punch of a story. 

The Cooper Girl by S.H.Cooper The final entry is a slow, sinister rollout and a quiet creep of horror that won’t leave you feeling gutted when you finish like so many of the previous stories do. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but I prefer not to sit in that space for too long and I’m glad things ended on a not entirely bleak note. The Cooper Girl was the perfect story to end this collection.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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