...funny, wise and weighty ... One of the funniest stories concerns a woman who farts during an important presentation — only to find herself swallowed up by a black hole populated with other women in similar states of humiliation and shame. Not only does the story tap into something real, it recalls those endlessly popular women’s magazine staples in which readers share their most embarrassing moments ... It may make you put Roar down for a while so you can think about what the word 'woman' really means and why the roars women make sound so similar ... It’s best to read just one or two of Ahern’s fables at a time. That way you can truly appreciate their wit, pathos and imagination.
Ahern is a clever, whimsical fabulist, and the roar of each tale resounds in the moral. Her bold and unapologetic style is augmented by the dream-like, exaggerated quality of these chimerical stories ... Ahern often opines her political views with a megaphone. While this blunt approach is in accordance with the cautionary epimythia of traditional fables, the technique may come across as a bit too didactic to some readers, and the blaring political messages risk eclipsing the artistry of these tales ... has its hits and misses. In Ahern’s more successful pieces, her prose flexes its muscles with vim and vigor, and this sinewy, bizarre compilation is an entertaining commentary on the shapeshifting social mores of our times.
Cecelia Ahern’s collection of short stories titled, Roar, couldn’t be better timed ... Unfortunately, despite its relevant and pressing subject, Roar disappoints; the collection is largely saccharine and lacks subtlety and nuance ... Many of the stories in Roar have clever, catchy opening paragraphs and are humorous at times ... Although most of the stories in Roar get off to good starts, many rely too heavily on clichés, overused tropes, and obvious symbolism ... The endings of far too many stories in Roar are tied up much too neatly and are moralistic and corny ... Roar is a great idea not very well executed.
The 30 allegorical tales...offer inspiration in dealing with such travails as getting older in a sexist, ageist society or trying to juggle way too many responsibilities ...The stories, perhaps best read in small doses, contain wisdom, humor and warning ... Roar offers respite for the woman who was stressed by modern life.
Ahern has a disarmingly down-to-earth empathy and is at her sharpest and funniest when characters have their backs to the wall ... These stories, of course, are only the beginning of Roar which will continue to develop on the screen. There is much to develop here as the story collection teems with ideas ... But fairy tales have always starred queens and princesses living in castles even when their audience and narrators lived in middens and ate out of communal pots ... Just a little more hardship and difficulty before the happy ending could allow Ahern’s brave women to soar (and roar) higher.
Ahern writes limpidly and intelligently ... This gallery of oppressed, neglected and underrated womanhood is cumulatively depressing, despite the stories’ comedy and their last paragraph redemptions, some of which, I admit, had me snorting back a tear ... You quickly clock Ahern’s creative process. Seize a cliché (the wannabe mother with 'a ticking clock,' say) and take it literally (she audibly ticks and tocks) ... Ahern’s tone is confidential, sympathetic and witty. Despite its title, Roar purrs rather than shrieks its feminism.
Humor, sharp observation, and magic are all effective tools for combating insidious gender oppression. Cecelia Ahern utilizes these devices in her collection ... Her stories and characters demonstrate the fundamental capriciousness of the injustices rendered by systematic gender inequality. But it's not enough for Ahern to merely illustrate the commonality of gender oppression, she goes further to firmly establish each of her characters' personal and social growth ... apt to raise-consciousness and induce a few chuckles. Roar's strength is found in its depiction of empowered women, yet Ahern mistakenly centralizes a normative vision of feminism while reiterating the patriarchal control, that silences her female characters' voices ... Ahern's ability to exhibit women's emotional growth is Roar's power ... Despite Roar's ability to harness women's strengths, the collection lacks diversity ... Whereas Ahern attempts to subvert dominant narratives, the stories still reinforce standardized heterosexuality ... Confusingly, and disappointedly, several of Ahern's women are led to clarity by men ... has some high-quality narratives mixed in with poorly-executed tales. Ahern's ability to imagine characters who find empowerment after hardship while exalting other women is refreshing. Yet her tendency to reaffirm dominant patriarchal narratives is cringe-worthy ultimately marring Roar's goal.
Acutely attuned to the subtle sexism, ageism, racism, and every other -ism constricting women’s live, Ahern (Perfect, 2017, etc.) returns with a collection of curiously delightful fables imagining what would happen if the emotional trials of women’s lives manifested in reality ... With echoes of Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Sexton’s Transformations, Ahern lets each of her protagonists physically manifest the tribulation that social, cultural, and familial expectations have pushed her to internalize ... A sharp, breathtaking collection of fables.
...[a] fantastic collection ... Ahern’s women are by turns insecure and ambitious, quiet and challenging ... Ahern (P.S., I Love You) blends magical realism with keen observations about contemporary gender dynamics, offering readers a sharp selection of nuanced parables encouraging bravery, compassion, and self-reliance.
