Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future by A.S. King 2/5 Awards: Andre Norton Award Nominee (2014), NAIBA Book of the Year for Young Adult (2015), Premio El Templo de las Mil Puertas Nominee for Mejor novela extranjera independiente (2016) Français: Aucune traduction française n’a été annoncée. Summary Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities – but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she's never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way... until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person's infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions – and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying: A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women's rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she'll do anything to make sure this one doesn't come to pass. My thoughts Simply put, I hated this book. Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future presents itself as a feminist manifesto, but it is so far from what I believe feminism is that I could not connect to any facets of it. It was published in 2014, but I feel like the movement has already come a long way. Glory, the main protagonist, is by far one of the most self-centred and pretentious characters I've encountered, and I’ve read my fair share of 19th-century literature. She preaches the fact that men and women should be equal which is amazing! Yet, she slut-shames the only person that only ever took care of her, her only friend, for having a relationship with one single guy. She constantly judges her friend for caring about her looks and about boys. Glory thinks she is better than all girls around her because she does not care about relationships or physical appearance. She paints herself as enlightened for not wanting to be feminine. To me, that is not feminism. The movement is about empowering everyone and giving them as many options to live their truth as possible. Do you want to wear makeup? Go for it. You want to date someone older, younger, not the same colour, religion or of the same gender? Go for it. Do you want to buy that perfume because you like how it smells? Go for it. Of course, Glory is right when she criticizes the over-sexualization of women particularly in the media, but she is so wrong into thinking that stereotypically girly behaviour makes you a slave to the system. By shaming her friend for being “girly”, she is furthering the gender divisions by thinking that one way of living is wrong. It is reductive to assume that because some girls fit in a certain archetype that they are not happy or empowered. Wearing dresses or makeup was never something I did because I am female, I did it because I liked how it felt and no one is allowed to question that. No one is allowed to think that I am a lesser feminist for it either. She also has tough words about the process of seduction in general which she sees as diabolical and repressive of women’s rights because we seem to always portray ourselves as temptresses or as innocent little lambs in order to get a man. First, which is more repressive: allowing someone to flirt with whatever method they are most comfortable with, or telling them that they are a “slut” for doing it? Second, believe it or not, not everything we do is about men! Shocker! Who said that if I want to wear a nice dress on a date it means that I am trying to tease a man and not simply feel good in my own skin? Again, her vision of dating is extremely reductive for both girls and boys. Men are not only attracted to our bodies, and girls are not praying for attention. She reduces society to a game of cat and mouse as if no one could build a good, healthy relationship based on mutual self-respect. While there are bad apples everywhere, the world is moving towards gender equality despite what we see in the news media. By no means, is feminism unnecessary. It is and will always be, but I do not want to see a world like Glory imagines where dating is frowned upon or where my “girly-ness” is used as a weapon to undermine my credibility as a woman. Her vision of feminism seems to portray men and society as evil rather than empower women to reach their maximum potential. The nuance is important to me. Let’s try to bring each other up instead of pushing everyone down. Other than her questionable views on feminism, Glory is the definition of an angsty teenager. She is overdramatic about everything. The captions for the pictures she takes throughout the novel made me laugh particularly hard at their ridiculousness. To be fair, she is probably the kind of character that I would’ve LOVED as a 12-year-old when I was in my “everything sucks, and I hate everyone” phase because Glory thinks everything sucks and hates everyone. The difference is that I was 12 back then, and Glory is 17. If you are a fan of John Green or any other author who writes about angsty characters who attempt at having meaningful and profound reflections about life through abstract and cliché metaphors, this is the book for you! Except, John Green is actually a good writer. The only digestible part of the novel was the intrigue with Glory’s mom’s suicide. I did like the message that she was trying to not become her mother, a fear so many kids have after such a tragic event. The depiction of her mother’s mental health was also fairly interesting and different. The rest of the plot, particularly the History of the Future, was a mess that had nothing to do with the rest of the story. She realizes that she can see the future after (get this, this is pure angsty teenage goals) cremating a bat, mixing the ashes with beer and drinking it. She then learns that there will be a second American Civil War in which all the women in New America will be captured to become breeders. I can hear you say “Wait, I thought this was a story about a girl dealing with her mom’s suicide as she graduates high school?!” I am as confused as you are. This book tried to be too many things at the same time: a feminist manifesto, a dystopian novel and a self-discovery piece. I would’ve loved if it had been any of one of the three just not all of them at the same time. It had been a while since there was a rant on this blog, and even then, it wasn’t nearly as aggressive as this one. I hope my misfortune of stumbling upon an awful book while at least have provided you with some entertainment. If you liked Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future, you will love… The Fault in Our Stars by John Green Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
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