#bookreview: Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space | Amanda Leduc

Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Everyone loves fairy tales. We've grown up longing for, and dreaming of, our own fairy tale endings. Some of us can and do end up getting some version of happily-ever-after, but Leduc asks a harder question: must fairy tales and happy endings be solely hinged on the magical healing of physical disability or disfigurement, of things that are ugly or broken being made pretty and whole again?

Why can't those who live with disabilities be happy and whole even if they never find a cure?

Throughout Disfigured, Leduc explores the history of fairy tales and their current manifestations, ranging from the earlier compilations by the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Anderson's original tales, up to Disney retellings and modern superhero or fantasy stories as their new reiterations. She expounds on this in tandem with scrutinising her own lived experience of growing up with cerebral palsy, and how, whilst she loved fairy tales and their magical endings, it eventually seemed like they were not for her.

Because the magical happily ever after always involved a cure or a fix, one that she, and many like her, has not and will likely never receive.

...the focus of fairy tales...has always been on finding magical instruments, extraordinary technologies, or powerful people and animals that will enable protagonists to transform themselves along with their environment, making it more suitable for living in peace and contentment.

Leduc quotes fairy-tale scholar Jack Zipes, putting into focus why fairy tales resonate with so many--there's always that hope that something (God, the universe, karma, fairies) will happen to fix what's wrong and then we can go on to successful, fulfilling lives. In the past, fairy tales were a way to justify mysterious illnesses and wish for miraculous cures, things that science can now explain and medicine can help.

Why then, if technology and medicine, have opened new frontiers and magical possibilities for everyone, do our storytelling and narratives still imply that one needs to be "normal" and "healthy" to live a blessed, happy life?

Why do modern fairy tales still so often rely on the erasure of disability?

This is honestly something that I have never thought about. Who doesn't want limbs to regrow or cancer to disappear, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the blind to see? It's what we are taught to pray for in church; it's this hope of the miraculous cure that fuels faith-healing rallies.

Just as media portrays people of colour as "odd and exotic" or just "wrong", it's not a huge leap to see that the media does this to the disabled as well. The evil witch is a hunched old crone with warts on her face, waving a cane; the villain is ugly or disfigured in some way. The quest is completed, or evil vanquished, when the Beast is transformed back into the handsome prince, or when the mermaid walks down the aisle with her brand new legs.

Disability is something I live with, not something I've vanquished as if it's a villain. The stories I now tell try to show this. The stories we all tell, now, should try to make space for this truth in some way.

Disfigured offers a dissection of the impact of familiar fairy tales on Leduc's own experiences and lays bare the insidious narrative that disability--or anything that makes us different--is a villain to be vanquished. As writers--and readers--we are often blinkered to the experiences of people who are not like us, people who are not able-bodied, and this shows in the stories we tell and the language we use; my first instinct was to say that we are "blind" to those experiences, but are we? Or do we just refuse to listen, refuse to try to understand?

Going back to faith-healing rallies, we want people to be healed, but what happens when they are not? What happens when the dreamed-of fairy tale ending is just another huge disappointment? In what ways do we, does society, change to allow them to live and thrive independently instead of just blaming them for their perceived "lack of faith"?

How should this be reflected in our stories and in our societies?

Society, we have seen, does not change in fairy tales. The transformation is individual, never systemic.

Just as stories shape society and society shapes stories, how disability is portrayed in fiction (whether fairy tale or not) is important. If fairy tale endings are about transformation and triumph, it can surely also show the transformation of society and the triumph of the disabled protagonist even if the disability never goes away.

I've shelved this under "Writing and Publishing" because it speaks a lot to my interest in writing new fairy tales (as well as retelling old ones), but really, it's a thought-provoking read for any fairy tale who is interested in understanding and unlearning the narratives around disability/difference that's coded in these beloved tales.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Coach House Books via Edelweiss. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Buy link: Amazon

#musicmonday: King of Majesty | Hillsong

Okay, so this song came up, and I was like, "I didn't know people still sang it."
And someone said, "Yea, all the kids think it's a new song. They don't know how to do the hey! hey! hey!"

... and then later, I'm thinking waitaminute... that version is the remake. THE ORIGINAL DOESN'T HAVE THAT.
This falls in the high school era, where I remember learning/introducing the song in the basement of Chong Nam Theatre.

#bookreview: Indigo Inquest | Azriel Johnson

Indigo Inquest by Azriel Johnson


Indigo Inquest, book 4 in the Dragon's Bane Series, follows the life of Plato Kingsley, a Drackne and key leader of the Humankin in Bellato. Whilst the book can be read as a standalone, it does get a little confusing at times, especially if you start with the last chapter of Book 3 that's included as a sort of prequel/prologue. I'd recommend skipping this chapter snippet until later if you're reading this as a standalone; it doesn't really add much to the narrative until you actually figure out what's happening in the rest of the book.

The timeline of the book covers about 50 years, jumping back and forth between the "current" events of 2001 and Kingsley's history from his youth in 1953. It's a simple narrative device: the past is told as a series of flashbacks as Kingsley tells his story to a reporter while on his final quest to confront his greatest enemy. I'm not entirely sure it works for me--because of the way it's structured, it feels as if there is entirely too much backstory, though the entirety of the book is ostensibly meant to be backstory. There are also sections of news-like reports, which serve as a sort of historical touchstone for this alternate earth timeline where Dragons have destroyed most of human civilisation. At least, I think that's why they're there.

Overall, whilst the book is entertaining enough, it suffers a little bit from poor execution. On the plus side, Johnson plays with mind reading, time travel, and mysterious god-like powers, which always makes for exciting plot twists! On the minus side, there's a slight clunkiness to the prose that makes it feel like a lot is being crammed into this one book, including unnecessary backstory as mentioned earlier, and the time jumps sometimes makes it hard to keep track of things. The motivations and actions of the characters are also obscure and underdeveloped, with some relationships that either don't make sense or don't seem to develop naturally.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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More about The Dragon's Bane series:

On August 8, 1956 there was a coal mine fire in Marcinelle, Belgium. At least, that's what Humanity was told.

The Dragon's Bane Series (Sunset Red | The Black God) follows an alternate timeline in the events of the war between Dragons and Humanity spanning much longer than anyone ever fathomed.

The main character in the series is John Ross Gerstung, grandson of the first Hell Bringer with whom he shares a name. The novels between his tales focus on prominent people in John Ross' life.

Indigo Inquest is the second of these novels.

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Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst by day and a serial writer by night.

Currently he can be found teaching English in China if you’re looking hard enough. 

Most side projects have taken a back seat to this new adventure, the card game is on hold, the other stories have been sidelined, but he will resume them once he gets into the flow

of life in Asia.

He still does yoga (sort of), and exercises almost daily (nightly), while exploring as much as he can and getting lost (but not too lost) in a “small” city of five million. He also is attempting to learn Chinese, but it is still poor. He admires his students for trying to learn English as he thinks speaking English is much more difficult than speaking Chinese, although the written characters trip him up. His goal is to be bi-lingual by the time he leaves, even if he is still functionally illiterate in Chinese.

#musicmonday: Wrap My Words Around You | Daniel Bedingfield

Blast from the past as I'm sorting through all the old CDs in my car.

#bookreview: The Last Mystic | Susan Kaye Quinn

The Last Mystic by Susan Kaye Quinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, so I went back and read everything in the series ALL OVER AGAIN. I mean, The Illusory Prophet released in 2017, which is really long ago... and I really hate when authors take forever to finish a series, but this was... this was worth the wait, I think. Yes, definitely worth the wait. Though, technically you don't really need to do that. There's enough back info in this one to help you remember what happened in the previous three books (assuming you haven't completely wiped them from your mind).

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The Last Mystic is not just about tech. It's not just about the mental arms race. It's really about cults and beliefs, ambition and humanity.

All the little hidden secrets come out in this one, all the pieces Quinn has been shuffling around, even in the various Stories of Singularity, and the payoff is like *BOOM* when you realise wait, this new character was that one from that short story, and wait, *THAT* happened because... oh! (Which probably sounds pretty cryptic, but well. No spoilers. Though really the blurb for this one is pretty spoilery for what happens in book 3 anyway.)

Elijah Brighton continues to struggle with the question that's been bugging them since The Legacy Human: do ascenders have souls?

Is there life after death? What does the afterlife look like? Elijah has never believed--and even after resurrecting from the dead, he's not quite sure he believes in God and the afterlife. It's all just the fugue. But the more he discovers about himself and the fugue--the more he grows into what he's created to be--the more complicated it gets. And with Hypatia-Diocles cult gaining power and trying to force the Second Singularity, he's out of time. The world is out of time

So he's left with the biggest question of all: how does he act as a bridge for all of humanity, whether legacy or ascender?

It's a brilliant, brilliant read. You should read it too.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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The Last Mystic just released this week!

#musicmonday: Movements | Rend Collective

#bookreview: On Far Malayan Shores | Tara Haigh

On Far Malayan Shores by Tara Haigh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's perhaps fitting that I read most of this on my flight home from London to Penang--it certainly increased my longing for home!

When Ella Kaltenbach's father dies, he reveals a long-kept secret--her adoption is not as straightforward as it appears, neither is the annual stipend he receives an inheritance from his late brother. Driven to discover the secret of her birth and her real family, Ella sets off on a long voyage to Malaya with her suitor, Rudolf, armed with only three facts: that the payments are being made from Penang; she was picked up from the port of Singapore in 1877; and the name Richard F.

I started reading this with a huge dose of skepticism. I mean, a German lady writing about the Malaya? HMMMM. Anyway, it had a bit of a slow start for me, probably because I don't often read in this genre; On Far Malayan Shores seemed to plod along at a slower pace compared to majority of the fantasy books I've been reading, especially in the beginning. The build-up is beautifully crafted though, and even though I hit the 75% mark going COME ON I CAN GUESS WHO HER PARENTS ARE, REVEAL IT ALREADY (and I was right), there's enough tension and intrigue for it to still be exciting.

On authenticity, I'm not from the early 1900s so I cannot comment on how historically accurate it is, but there's definitely a feel of old Malaysia, from eating with your hands, to having roti canai (though it was translated flatbread) and curry for breakfast, also the obligatory Chinese temple, Indian temple, and Malay mosque near each other.

The only puzzling part was the odd references that made it sound like Johor was part of Malacca? Since we're talking about British Straits Settlements, Johor should already be a separate state as there was a Johor Sultanate after the end of the Malaccan empire. Ok wait. When I search up instances of Malacca and Johore (as it's spelt) in the book, Haigh references Johore as a town/city in Malacca... which ultimately makes no sense.

"Most of the plantations are located in Malacca, on the Malay Peninsula. Mainly in the south, in a region called Johore, which is also under British control..."

("region" may be an accurate term, but...)

"...in the south of Malacca, most likely between Singapore and Johore..."

(err, which would mean the sea? lol)

"Ella was told that the journey to Johore was perfectly safe, since they only had to travel northwards across Singapore...before making a short ferry crossing to the south coast of Malacca."

I get the feeling that she means "Johore Bahru", as in the capital of Johor, but either way, the Johor-as-part-of-Malacca bit is wrong.

I feel like docking another star now for bad research lol. (See: Johor Sultanate)

Culturally though, nothing feels terribly off. Verdict, I guess, is to read it for the feels and oo Malaysia vibes but not for the geographical content.

Addendum: Tara notes on Goodreads that "I read a few British travel accounts from the 19th century. They referred to Malaysia (the entire peninsula including the sultanate of Johor) as Malacca. This is what I found on old maps of Farther India as well." Which is weird, and shows the flippancy the British have for their own colonial holdings.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Amazon Publishing UK via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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