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The Girl Before: JP Delaney

3 replies

EdinaMonsoon · 27/01/2022 15:32

I should say from the start that I've never read anything by this author and the book was a gift so not necessarily one I would choose so both those things may have a bearing on my thoughts on the book.

Having read it, I feel quite troubled by the way the female characters are written and depicted. There is a subtext that made me really uncomfortable. I felt there was more than an undercurrent of misogyny, centred around how manipulative & deceitful the women were and how women may say they don't appreciate rough sex (including strangulation) whilst secretly loving it. That on the face of it these women present as victims but in actual fact are anything but. It's just left me feeling unsettled in the context of the issues we face as women around emotional and physical safety and consent.

OP posts:
autienotnaughty · 28/01/2022 09:02

I read the book last year and for a 'thriller' I found it a bit dull. I recently watched the tv series and couldn't actually fully remember the plot. I find a lot of these types of books portray the women as weak, isolated characters often reliant on alcohol or medication. I assume it's to make it realistic that they end up being manipulated/coerced but I feel it's a very lazy way to write women. There's this subtle undertone that the women is almost deserving of being treated badly because she is written as incapable of making good choices.

TonksInPurple · 28/01/2022 10:21

I really didn’t enjoy it or the tv series the house share is similar and I thought much better.

autienotnaughty · 28/01/2022 12:27

Oooh I've not read that I'm adding it to my list.

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