★☆☆☆☆ – No thanks…

A story about horrible things happening to a young woman who exercises no agency until the epilogue. I’m not particularly drawn to melancholic descriptions of cold statue penis or attempted rape scenes.

Particularly frustrating was that Julia – the protagonist – does not seem to be afforded even the emotional agency of truly being against the horrible state of affairs (being married off at 15 to a space alien for whom she feels nothing). Instead, these scenes are written in a way that almost gives the impression that they’re intended to be titillating, which I don’t exactly see how they would be:

[Julia was] very much aware of his hand on her leg. It was an almost enjoyable sensation, and if he were human, she might have found herself catching her breath in anticipation of the wedding.

“Life of Julia” isn’t poorly written in a technical sense by any means, but I found the experience of reading it no more than depressing and frustrating.