crabbygirl reviewed Annabel by Kathleen Winter
Review of 'Annabel' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
i didn't care much for this book about a hermaphrodite turned (through hormones) into a boy in labrador. mostly it was because a lot of the conflict, on the page and within himself, would have been avoided had the parents chosen him/her to be a girl.
actually, it was the father who decided he was a boy and then he spent the rest of his life trying to peg him into stereotypical boy behaviors. couldn't he foresee how his fears would affect a future relationship with his son?
the mother's character was somehow destroyed through 'losing' this daughter, but i couldn't really buy that either. a mother's relationship with her children are not based on gender. at the book's conclusion, the "boy" (now a man) goes off the drugs and embraces his ambiguity and, in a unfortunate violent turn of events, even his father accepts him/her.
that's all fine and …
i didn't care much for this book about a hermaphrodite turned (through hormones) into a boy in labrador. mostly it was because a lot of the conflict, on the page and within himself, would have been avoided had the parents chosen him/her to be a girl.
actually, it was the father who decided he was a boy and then he spent the rest of his life trying to peg him into stereotypical boy behaviors. couldn't he foresee how his fears would affect a future relationship with his son?
the mother's character was somehow destroyed through 'losing' this daughter, but i couldn't really buy that either. a mother's relationship with her children are not based on gender. at the book's conclusion, the "boy" (now a man) goes off the drugs and embraces his ambiguity and, in a unfortunate violent turn of events, even his father accepts him/her.
that's all fine and dandy for the family relationships, but the ending comes too soon. this ambiguity cannot survive the scrutiny of society and he/she will have to decide their identify - if only for the university admissions forms, and introductions :)
this character is simply not strong enough to be some barrier-breaking case, so ending the story without his/her final decision is a cheat.
