[Olivia]

in reply to: Book Reviews: Feedback/Discussions #15018

My Thoughts on: I Who Have Never Known Men

Read: 29th April 2025.

Wow, what a story and a concept. A very scary idea that made me think of the Handmaid’s Tale and as much as I’d love to say it’s all completely fictional dystopian world, it seems increasingly more —and terrifyingly— more realistic. I agree with Lily’s review that the character felt androgynous and childlike, their characterisation was so contrasting to the other women because they had never existed (or remembered existing) outside of the cave. All of the other women have memories of the life outside.

Considering their lack of outside world contact, they learn quickly and even adapt their own time-telling tool by using their own heartbeat (which is later adapted to the sun once they escape). I believe the main point of the text is: “What is the point of freedom if you don’t know what to do with it?” or something along those lines. A quote I found interesting around 78% mark was: ‘I was as much a prisoner outside this empty land as I had been inside the cage in my early years.’ Is it truly freedom if you’re alone and don’t have any knowledge of what this outside land entails? What it means? What are the boundaries? Inside the cage, their boundaries were explicit, they knew what they could and couldn’t do, even if they did not know the reasons behind them. Here, in the open world, what was the meaning? What is the point? I think that is the main reason as to why our main protagonist ends up alone because all of the women have lost their sense of meaning. Inside the cage, they clung onto this idea of escape and returning to the lives they had before the cage, but now they have escaped, there is no way back to the past and this is discouraging and depressing.

On a larger scale, perhaps the book is critiquing society’s role of purpose and how it can be limiting to only live for one purpose. On the feminist side, of course, women being trapped in cages and being abused by noncommunicative male guards is critiquing patriarchy and it’s never ending effects on society. I, like you, felt that it was a shame that the mystery is almost too mysterious because I would like some kind of answer as to why this has happened or what it is really about, but I found it really interesting nonetheless!

[Olivia]

in reply to: Poems #15016

Love it! Also, new poems have been published – so check them out & let us know your thoughts here on the Forums page or at our social media @thewritersherd!

[Olivia]

in reply to: Poems #15017

Love it! Also, new poems have been published – so check them out & let us know your thoughts here on the Forums page or at our social media @thewritersherd!

[Olivia]

in reply to: Writing Guides #14993

Wooowooo! Look out for my guide to beating Writer’s Block!

[Olivia]

in reply to: Poems #14992

Thank you so, so much!

[Olivia]

in reply to: Short Stories #14888

Hehehehhe, revenge! (I just read Blood Money)

[Olivia]

in reply to: Poems #14887

I really enjoyed writing The Dance of the Fillywigs & exploring the creative freedom the poem gave me!

[Olivia]

in reply to: Book Reviews: Feedback/Discussions #14886

Becoming Superhuman by Joe Dispenza is a recommendation I’ve received for manifestation and meditation!

[Olivia]

in reply to: Book Reviews: Feedback/Discussions #14836

THE SCANDAL!! This is incredibly interesting . . .

[Olivia]

in reply to: General Discussions #14833

Yay to forums and literature discussions!

[Olivia]

in reply to: Writing Guides #14832

I think writing guides are so helpful. Especially when it comes to things like getting inspiration and how to construct characters. Maybe it would be fun to see how to incorporate prompts into your writing, or just prompts in general?

[Olivia]

in reply to: Short Stories #14831

My thoughts on I Miei Segreti Nascosti: The Underworld

I love the pacing and descriptions of this piece. How it starts with long, beautiful descriptions of waves and sand and how busy everything is before shifting into a deserted beach and a buried secret. This shift was so fun to uncover and unpack whilst reading it, it also just makes me wonder… what is your secret?

Do we ever find out? Do you know what it is?

[Olivia]

in reply to: Short Stories #14830

My thoughts on Underneath my Bed

Oh my goodness, what a fun piece! Even with the word count limitations (only 100 words), you manage to flesh out such an interesting story with such funny implications (also pretty spooky ones!)

I love the voice of this piece and how fun it is, I am biased because I love horror stories, but for such a short piece, you manage to work a lot into it.

[Olivia]

in reply to: Poems #14829

My thoughts on Beacon

I really like how the sense of familiarity and being someone’s comfort is paralleled within the language of the piece, having a constant rhyme scheme (all words ending in ‘ing’), I felt this really elevates the piece and adds a further element of depth to the poem.

The visuals are also beautifully written and feels nice to read in my head. Also, love the inclusion of the video!

[Olivia]

in reply to: Poems #14826

My thoughts on Mental Health Service

I really like the use of voice throughout the piece! The speaker’s panic and escalating feelings are clearly depicted and it isn’t something I have really seen before when discussing emotions within poetry. I liked the fragmentary structure to the piece, adding to the feeling of not having fully-formed thoughts or a stable headspace. I also felt that the length of this poem also added to the tension between the speaker and reader and I really like that element. With the poem’s subject matter, you manage to add in key phrases within travelling ‘see it, say it, sorted’ and I felt that elevated the piece and really magnified the trigger of this poem.

This topic is obviously personal, and for that, I have to say thank you for sharing!

• This reply was modified 3 months, 2 weeks ago by Olivia.
• This reply was modified 3 months, 2 weeks ago by Olivia.

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