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The Refrigerator Monologues

Catherynne M. Valente (Goodreads Author),

Annie Wu (Contributor)

4.08 · Rating details · 3,183 ratings · 709 reviews

From the New York Times bestselling author Catherynne Valente comes a ferocious riff on the women in superhero comics.

The Refrigerator Monologues is a collection of linked stories from the points of view of the wives and girlfriends of superheroes, female heroes, and anyone who’s ever been “refrigerated”: comic book women who are killed, raped, brainwashed, driven mad, dis ...more

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Paperback, 160 pages

Published March 6th 2018 by Gallery / Saga Press (first published June 6th 2017)

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Jun 16, 2017 Karl rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-06-books-bought

What Catherynne M. Valente states in the afterword to her new book of stories concerning the wives and girlfriends of superhero’s, titled “The Refrigerator Monologues” , pertains to the untimely deaths bestowed on those ladies.

Emphasizing the total lack of respect for the female character roles in comics in general, Valente compares this book to her personal version of “The Vagina Monologues” for the comic industry.

All of the various female narrators in “The Refrigerator Monologues” are dead. T ...more

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Jun 03, 2017 Elle (ellexamines) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: z-2017reads, x-audiobook, y-notowned, y-2017releases, literary-fiction, x-buylist, favorite-squads, favorite-characters, sff-specfic, 3-star

This book is a parody and it’s not. Inspired by the trope of Women in Refrigerators, aka Women Getting Fridged For Manpain, The Refrigerator Monologues satirizes sexist tropes within media representation.

And just like the trope itself, this book is weird as hell. It’s following a bunch of women in a literal deadtown, all becoming friends with each other and telling their own stories. It’s a story of solidarity between women, but in the end, a bit of an inconsistent one - this story’s main stren ...more

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May 28, 2017 Mogsy (MMOGC) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories, arcs-and-galleys, fantasy, review-copy, superheroes-and-superpowers, urban

3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2017/06/05/...

Ever wonder what it’s like to be a girlfriend or wife of a superhero? The answer is not so glamorous in The Refrigerator Monologues, a new book containing a series of linked short stories by Catherynne M. Valente. Inspired by “Women in Refrigerators”, a term used to describe a trope used in many comic book plots involving the deaths, disablement, and disenfranchising of female characters to forward a male superhero prota 3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2017/06/05/...

Ever wonder what it’s like to be a girlfriend or wife of a superhero? The answer is not so glamorous in The Refrigerator Monologues, a new book containing a series of linked short stories by Catherynne M. Valente. Inspired by “Women in Refrigerators”, a term used to describe a trope used in many comic book plots involving the deaths, disablement, and disenfranchising of female characters to forward a male superhero protagonist’s storyline, this clever collection offers both a darkly humorous commentary on the subject as well as a vicious lampoon on these kinds of story arcs as a whole.

Meet the six women of the Hell Hath Club, all inspired by well-known characters in the DC or Marvel universes so that even passing fans of comics should recognize some of their origins. There’s Paige Embry, the brilliant and driven college student who saw her bright future snuffed out when she was thrown off a bridge by her superhero boyfriend’s arch nemesis. Gwen Stacy anyone? Or how about the powerful telepath and telekinetic, taken away at a young age for a school for special powered people to fight another group of special powered people by an ostensibly well-meaning professor, who later puts Jean Gre—I mean, Julia Ash on an otherwise all-male superhero team called the “Millennial Men”? And of course there’s also Samantha Dane, based off of Alexandra Dewitt, the girlfriend of Kyle Rayner whose gruesome manner of death in the Green Lantern comics is what inspired the “refrigerated” term in the first place.

The tales go on like this, each one exploring the background of a female character who has been killed, depowered, or generally dismissed in favor of the male superheroes (and in one case, a supervillain) in their lives. Now the six of them meet regularly in the afterlife, hanging out at a quaint little joint called the Lethe Café where they share their stories, support each other, and listen to the gargoyles bands play punk rock.

The Refrigerator Monologues was a quick read, offering brief but plentiful examples to illustrate the concerning trend in comic books of having bad things happen to female characters as merely a plot device. While these are entertaining stories, I’m afraid there’s also very little lightness to them. After all, the women portrayed here are meant to represent the victims of “lazy writing” and “stock storylines”, most of them reduced to playing second fiddle to their male superhero counterparts or as pet causes for their romantic partners. Valente shines a harsh, subversive light on the injustice and absurdity of these situations, from Gwen Stacy whose death has somehow become an inextricable and defining moment in the life of Spider-Man, to Harley Quinn who is forever standing resolutely by the Joker even after the bajillionth time he leaves her to rot in Arkham. The short vignettes here capture both the tragedy and comedy of the women’s fates by putting readers in their shoes.

I also thought the length and format of the book was perfect for the author’s vision. It is clear anything less would have failed to deliver the same level of poignancy, while a longer book containing more stories would have run the risk of being repetitive. The writing style here is very distinctive, aiming for biting humor and as much as snarky finesse, though after a while I found it difficult to distinguish the different voices of the women for they all seemed to speak with the same mannerisms. By the end, I was also feeling a little weary and heartsick from the underlying tones of sadness and dejection. For you see, this isn’t a book that “fixes” things, nor was it ever meant to be—I think Valente put it best in an article I once came across where she said (and I’m paraphrasing based on memory), “I might not be able to swoop in to save the damsel, but I can turn on the mic to let her scream.” You might read these stories expecting more anger and indignation from the characters, but ultimately the Hell Hath Club isn’t so much about fury than it is about a place where its members can come together to vent, grieve, commiserate, or simply to tell their personal stories and be heard.

In closing, I also want to give special mention to the world-building of Deadtown. Aside from being the most unique and interesting aspect of the book, this brilliant setting ties all the characters’ stories together and gives this collection a special touch. Being dead isn’t easy—you’re basically stuck wearing whatever god-awful outfit you were buried in for all eternity, and there are bizarre rules like how all food can only be made from plants and animals that have gone extinct, or that the only books available are those that have been forgotten to time, etc. Still, it isn’t all bad. Residents of Deadtown share the afterlife with a population of friendly gargoyles who sure know how to have a good time!

Finally, you certainly don’t need to be familiar with comics or comic book characters to appreciate this book, but knowing some of the context would probably help. Sharply droll and acerbic, The Refrigerator Monologues offers a look at the superhero genre from a rare but important perspective. Whether these stories make you laugh or cry, pound your fists or roll your eyes, at the end of the day they’re bound to evoke emotions and start some conversations. And sometimes, that’s all that really matters. ...more

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Sep 26, 2017 Bradley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-shelf, graphic-novels, fantasy, sci-fi, satire, worldbuilding-sf

I know I keep saying this about Cat Valente, but damn... this is great stuff.

Six women in six linked short stories. They're all superhero fodder. Oh, Raynor, she's been refrigerated! :)

All the names have been changed but we can see who they are rather easy, and delightfully so. They're genuine female viewpoints and the ranting from a bar in Deadtown while listening to gargoyles play punk music is also delightful as hell, but what we've really got is Jean Grey, Harlequin, Gwen Stacey, and even p ...more

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Aug 20, 2018 Thomas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: feminism, fantasy, read-for-dmv-bookclub, science-fiction

Totally recommended for fans of superhero comics and feminism. The Refrigerator Monologues contains six short stories from the perspectives of fictional female characters who were killed or assaulted for the sake of progressing a superhero storyline. With plenty of wit and voice, Catherynne Valente takes a stab at the many misogynistic tropes in superhero comics, ranging from how women are punished for showing emotion while their male counterparts rage all the time and get rewarded for doing so, ...more

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Jun 19, 2018 Gabrielle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own-a-copy, read-in-2018, short-stories, reviewed, feminist

The website Women in Refrigerators (www.lby3.com/wir) compiled a list of all the female characters who were maimed, killed or had their power and agency otherwise taken from them as a plot device to move the male characters’ arc forward, instead of having some real story and character development of their own in the mainstream comic book cannon. This was not something I’d ever given much thought to, mostly because I am not such a rabid comic book fan, but once I was made aware of this, I started The website Women in Refrigerators (www.lby3.com/wir) compiled a list of all the female characters who were maimed, killed or had their power and agency otherwise taken from them as a plot device to move the male characters’ arc forward, instead of having some real story and character development of their own in the mainstream comic book cannon. This was not something I’d ever given much thought to, mostly because I am not such a rabid comic book fan, but once I was made aware of this, I started watching superhero movies a little bit differently… And while I feel like there are plenty of great female characters out there, it’s impossible to ignore that there are so many of them that were treated as cannon fodder, to give their superhero boyfriend/relative a reason to go on rampages against the supervillains. Kidnapped, taken hostage, tortured, mutilated, manipulated and killed to make a guy in a cape tick…

Valente disguised her characters very well, but even without in-depth knowledge of Marvel and DC comic characters, I was able to infer who were the women telling their stories (there are also plenty of little Easter eggs for serious comic nerds). She placed them in one of the strangest and most intriguing versions of the afterlife I’ve ever come across; a place where people wander, a bit aimlessly, acting like they are still alive out of habit. In that strange place, six women meet up regularly at a gargoyle-run bar to share their stories. They all come from the same world, where superheroes and supervillains are battling each other all over the place, often with twisted and tragic consequences – and these women happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The stories are a subversive rant against the fate these women had to endure, the stories they never got to share because they were murdered, driven insane, disabled or cruelly abandoned so that a man could carry on. Valente gives these characters a distinct voice, and a chance to say what they have been holding back for so long, and they spill their guts in anger, guilt and dark humor. A woman that had too much power and had to be controlled and stopped by her male counterparts. A woman who fell into a literally insane and abusive relationship. A woman who sacrificed her life and dreams on the altar of her partner’s glory. Things like that happen in comic books, but they happen in real life too. Valente’s writing is, as usual, stunning. While every story in this book is amazing, I especially liked Pauline’s (but then I’ve always been fascinated by the Joker and Harley) and Bayou’s.

Some critics have called the book heavy-handed, but I think it is necessary food for thought. It is necessary to get mad about the interrupted, corrupted lives these characters suffered. Not that there is anything we can do about it, expect maybe write stories a little differently in the future? Enthusiastically recommended to all comic book fans and to everyone who has been curious about what the other side of the story felt like. ...more

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May 02, 2018 Trish rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Cat Valente has become one of my favourite writers. She seems to be an allrounder who can write space opera as much as whimsical fairy tales full of artistic prose or a book offering a critical look at women in comicbooks.

She is a quirky person who loves art and poetry as much as computer games and comics. Her love for the latter especially shows here. Because loving something doesn't necessarily mean not being critical of it. And let's face it: no matter how much you love comics, many of them h Cat Valente has become one of my favourite writers. She seems to be an allrounder who can write space opera as much as whimsical fairy tales full of artistic prose or a book offering a critical look at women in comicbooks.

She is a quirky person who loves art and poetry as much as computer games and comics. Her love for the latter especially shows here. Because loving something doesn't necessarily mean not being critical of it. And let's face it: no matter how much you love comics, many of them have some obvious problems.

A while ago, another woman, named Gail Simone, called the world's attention to the major problem with women in comicbooks. She called the phenomenon: the women in refrigerators.
For those of you, like me, who don't know it, she named the phenomenon after a girlfriend of Kyle Rayner's (the next Green Lantern after Hal Jordan), who got murdered and literally stuffed in a refrigerator for him to find - solely so he could get worked up in a rage, resulting in him being able to be the hero and beat the villain.

Just like this famous example that gave a name to the problem, almost all girlfriends, wives, mothers, other female superheroes even, or any other kind of women represented in comics end up like a plot device to spur on the hero and make him get to the next level in his existance.

Thus, Valente took 6 examples - some are fairly obvious representations of famous comics, others I have to guess (or maybe I'll google them) - of such women and wrote their stories. They are all dead now, and form a sort of self-help group where they talk about what their story was really like. How their men kept secrets from them, didn't really care about them, or their children, or their wives' own powers so long as they could be the stars of the show. In the process, we get a 360° look at the kind of partners these women have been because they were almost all different in how they supported their men.

One story, as I said in my status update, was not very much to my liking as I didn't see the girl being a victim of anything other than her own bad life choices that she then blamed on the guy. Other than that, I definitely see the problem and had seen it in some comicbook movie adaptations even *cough*GwenStacey*cough* and that gave further delight to these tragic tales of sacrifice, love and death.

Some of these stories are quirky and wonderfully well written, some go that extra mile to also rip your heart out. All of them show the author's talent as well as her attention to detail and uncanny ability to take a theme, break it up into its individual parts and then throw everything back together - but in a slightly new and better way.

For anyone interested, here is a breakdown of who the ladies represent: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/s...
I didn't take a peek until now that I've finished the book and I got 4 out of the 6 right without being too well versed in comics. I should or could have known #5 as well but that's ok. Anyway, interesting article. ...more

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May 01, 2019 Samantha rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5 stars! These stories were takes on classic superhero stories of the heroes love interest getting killed, with recognizable tropes, heroes, and situations throughout. I found it enjoyable but overall pretty depressing (as expected) but not in as deep or complex of a way as I’ve seen in other stories discussing similar topics. As with any short story collection, there are also some stories you’ll love more than others, which brings the overall rating down.

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Aug 25, 2017 Tatiana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017

You can always rely on Valente to take a genre - this time it's comic book hero stories - and turn it completely on its head. ...more

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Apr 05, 2019 Emily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

WHEEEEWWW boy I'm excited for the TV adaptation...

This is a mix of several interconnected stories, each told from the perspective of a woman who has been "fridged" – killed, in one way or another, to further the story of their superhero significant others.

Like all Valente books, the writing is gloriously decadent. I will say, this time around things are much more colloquial (read: a lot more slang) than her other books. But I think that fits the context of the book.

This is a fabulous reclamation ...more

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Jul 10, 2019 Holly (The GrimDragon) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, the-infinite-library, i-will-go-down-with-this-ship, short-stories-novellas

"Look, I have never been anything but hardcore since I said my first swear, but when my son grabbed onto me for the first time, it was like a harpoon in the heart. Nothing ever hurt so much or felt so good."

Holy fucking fuck! This book. THIS GLORIOUS BOOK!!

This one is close to my heart. Badass chicks are my JAM. It's my deal! I mean.. clearly. Give me all the powerful women who break through glass ceilings!

The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente (with illustrations by Annie Wu) shin ...more

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Jun 13, 2017 Artur Nowrot rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-women, short-stories

*ETA: Updated review now with THREE postscripts! One of which might just be as long as the rest of the review!*

I like stories that offer transformation of oppresive structures or suggest ways of escaping them.

This book isn’t like that.

It is a raging, despairing howl against the world.

There is no subversion of the comic-book narratives (and the book is based on very well-known comic book storylines – I was able to identify all but two and I’m a fake geek guy). The women get to tell their stories, *ETA: Updated review now with THREE postscripts! One of which might just be as long as the rest of the review!*

I like stories that offer transformation of oppresive structures or suggest ways of escaping them.

This book isn’t like that.

It is a raging, despairing howl against the world.

There is no subversion of the comic-book narratives (and the book is based on very well-known comic book storylines – I was able to identify all but two and I’m a fake geek guy). The women get to tell their stories, but they cannot change them. They are dead. They will remain dead. You can feel, on a visceral level, that every one of the narratives is cut short. Interrupted. That those girls had hopes and dreams and plans that they will never be able to bring to life. And even though there is a beautiful portrait of women’s solidarity between the dead girls, there will be no closure – the stories are designed to make you angry and sad at their fate.

This has its purpose, of course, as it might push the reader to act.

The thing is... I was angry and sad before.

I guess someone else has to take care of the transformation.

PS. I’ve had a bit of an issue in the past few years with Valente’s writing – it felt slightly overwritten, too precious, particularly with the anthropomorphisations cropping up seemingly everywhere. This was an issue here at first, but the feeling passed very quickly and I had no trouble immersing myself into the narrative.

PPS. I wish the stories in the collection, since they all followed pre-existing plot points, were more formally daring. My favourite was the one about Julia Ash (not gonna spoil which comic book character she is based on), which played a bit with the format of the story.

PPPS. I’ve looked at the book as literature and described the affective response it elicits. But this is a prime example of a critical-creative re-writing, a text that is simultaneously literature and literary criticism. As the latter it contains some valuable insights. The line “I belong in the refrigerator. Because the truth is, I'm just food for a superhero. He'll eat up my death and get the energy he needs to become a legend” is an incandescent diamond. Given the anticipation of the Harley Quinn/Joker “romance” (*vomits quietly*) in Suicide Squad in some parts of the fandom, the story of Pretty Polly and Mr. Punch should be displayed on bus stops and sides of tall buildings. The Julia Ash story is a great depiction and critique of the “woman with too much power must be stopped” motif (or trope, as kids today would call it, whatever).

I was going to say that other than that the books stays in the by now well-trod line of criticism of women in refrigerators, started by Gail Simone and therefore doesn’t offer much beyond that. Only it’s not quite true. There is a bit about the value we place on manpain over women’s pain and emotional responses; there is something about the sacrifices women are expected to make in relationships for the sake of the development of their partner’s career. There is even an incisive critique of mainstream pornography. The result is a multi-faceted look at the marginalisation and victimisation of women in different aspects of life – not just superhero stories and not just art. This is very valuable and definitely shouldn’t be overlooked in favour of the “women in refrigerators” part. ...more

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Jun 13, 2017 lauren ♡ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: type-short-stories, read-in-2017, not-ya

Can everyone please read this because wow is it important in regards to the way women are treated just to further men's storylines. If you're interested in superheroes and feminism then you're gonna love this. ...more

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Nov 05, 2018 Vivian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-odyssey, humor, library, lilith-fare

Flickering through recycled realities, losing myself in myself, over and over.

The Refrigerator Monologues is a mashup of The Vagina Monologues and comic book history. Valente uses some pretty well known female comic book characters and riffs off them. Each character's place in Deadtown is introduced and then she shares her origin story and how she got "refrigerated", written out.

Trouble is, my story is his story. The story of Kid Mercury crowds out everything else, like Christmas landing on

Flickering through recycled realities, losing myself in myself, over and over.

Trouble is, my story is his story. The story of Kid Mercury crowds out everything else, like Christmas landing on the shops in August while Halloween tries to get a bat in edgewise.

It's funny, and a great rage read that makes you laugh even though some of it makes you want to cry at the same time. If you can't laugh it's just sad. Right?

It always stings when there's this whole story going on and you're really just a B-plot walk-on who only got a look at three pages of the script.

I like an outraged political statement that's thirty years out of date. If they'd had one that said Warren G. Harding Is the Anti-Christ, I'd have grabbed that one, too. Occupy Yesterday, baby!

I called him my manic pixie fucktoy.

Yeah, we've all pick up toys and realized we should have left them on the shelf. Plenty of reasons to throw him back, let someone else have that "catch".

But the longer I'm dead, the more I think the universe is a big blackboard with the rules scrawled all over it in chalk and stardust and it's just that the damn thing is flipped over and turned away from us so we can't see anything but the eraser, which is death, hitting the floor. Write out your life one thousand times, kid, or you'll have to come back and finish tomorrow.

Valente's knowledge of ancient Greeks is evident throughout the story, but I guess I just really love how she describes the Hell Hath Club and Deadtown because they sound exactly like shades. The dead are jealous of the living for precisely this reason:

Everthing tastes a little thin, a little slight. It's more like we were buried with the memory or the idea of hunger, and now it's stuck to us like old toilet paper.

Also, calls Odysseus a dick--knew I loved this writer for a reason. Yes, if you follow my reviews every time he appears I will totally call him out for the liar and thief he was--he's not a hero; he's an asshole.

The underworld's come a long way since Helen and Medea and Iphigenia and Clytemnestra painted the town black--the original Hell Hath Club.

As women we keep saying that, but when do we get to the end of road? Why aren't we there, yet? Anyway, highly recommend this book if you can comprehend the amount of suppressed frustration and rage women carry around with them or if you do. ...more

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May 02, 2019 Craig rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a really terrific little book. Valente has created a fictional portrayal of Gail Simone's famous "Women in Refrigerators" examination, and has created six analogs of the most famous examples. Her love of the comics genre shines through, and she handles the situations with empathy and care and considerable humor, yet still manages to get across her message that the medium can and should be better... more sympathetic, more inclusive, just -better-. I've read a few reviews that ding the boo ...more

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Oct 04, 2017 Lata rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, auth-f, x2017-read

Cathrynne M. Valente's distinctive writing style is put to use describing the former lives of various girlfriends/partners of superheroes. There's plenty of anger expressed by six women who were relied on then quickly and easily forgotten by their distinctly unheroic superhero partners. The women are interesting people, who, because of their association with superheroes, come to abrupt ends that the superheroes use to propel themselves into bigger and more ridiculous confrontations, all the whil ...more

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Aug 24, 2018 Erica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: our-shared-shelf-erica-s-picks

Such a good book! I really enjoyed the monologue structure -- it reads like a linked short story collection, and Valente does an amazing job capturing the distinct voice of each character.

You don't have to be a major fan of comics to enjoy this one. I know only what I've seen in a handful of movies, and still really appreciated reading Valente's take. I'm sure hardcore comics fans would get an extra layer of depth, catching references/in-jokes that I missed, but that's definitely not required to ...more

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Jun 13, 2017 Claudia ✨ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, novellas, year-2017, five-stars, standalones

"I belong in the refrigerator. Because the truth is, I'm just food for a superhero. He'll eat up my death and get the energy he needs to become a legend."

My first book by Catherynne M. Valente had me crying my eyes out on a train at midnight.

It had me writing down gutpunching quote after quote, write my girlfriends that they had to read this awesome and horrible book, and add the rest of Valentes books to my TBR. The writing and characters just refused to let me go. The Refrigerator Monologues "I belong in the refrigerator. Because the truth is, I'm just food for a superhero. He'll eat up my death and get the energy he needs to become a legend."

My first book by Catherynne M. Valente had me crying my eyes out on a train at midnight.

It had me writing down gutpunching quote after quote, write my girlfriends that they had to read this awesome and horrible book, and add the rest of Valentes books to my TBR. The writing and characters just refused to let me go. The Refrigerator Monologues was simply an experience.

If you haven't heard of the women in refrigerator term, it's generally when women in comics, books, tv-shows or movies are killed to boost the male protagonists storyline. When they are traumatised, raped, mutilated or killed just to spark a vengeance in the male hero or add to his character development. This is especially a big thing in superhero comics and is, in my humble opinion, fucking disgusting. Because it's more than just a little thing that happens in the stories we dive into every once in a while, as those little stories mirror our reality.

"It's a funny thing. You go your whole life thinking you're the protagonist, but really you're just backstory."

In this heartwrenching novella we get to meet and hear the stories of six women who meet up in the afterlife and all share their similar stories of their life and how they died. They're all girlfriends or wives of superheroes, and it's fairly easy to tell which characters inspired their creation. Don't worry though, even though they all have a lot of similarities, they're still different enough that each story felt like an entirely new one - it just followed a very old, sad and worn pattern. I loved and hated it at the same time.

Sometimes the things written in this book were so real that the book literally felt heavier in my hands. That's how powerful The Refrigerator Monologues was. All the stories were crazy amazing, and even though I did have my favorites - Paige and Julia's - I would probably sell a kidney to have an entire book per woman.

I don't know what more to say about this - I miss it and already want to read it again. I also need every single person in this world to read this. You need to read this. It's just such an important book. It will make you furious and want to punch someone and maybe cry or laugh and it's so important. ...more

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Jan 09, 2018 Jessica rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: graphics-n-comics, library

I have mixed feelings about this. I understand why it was written, and I love that she wrote it. The stylishness was undeniable. But I feel like it needed so much more.

For instance, Bayou's story was absolutely heartbreaking, and read like the outline of a larger story, one I wish I could read. A couple of the stories had to be so speeded up, to fit the monologue style, that I found them more confusing than tragic. The one story that really worked for me was Polly's. I am absolutely horrified b ...more

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Sep 01, 2017 Megan Baxter rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Refrigerator Monologues was a birthday present from my wonderful husband, along with a Funko figure of Louise from Bob's Burgers. I have an affinity for small angry ids in character form. I don't let anger out very often in my real life, so roleplaying games and identification with angry women/girls is pretty much where it makes its place in my life. So, in as far as that is concerned, this was a particularly good pairing, because The Refrigerator Monologues is both angry and heartbreaking.

N ...more

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Dec 13, 2017 Tracy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: my-copy, adult-fiction, feminist-fiction, feminist-book-club-read

This was very good. It’s inexcusable that it took 8 days to read as it is only 147 pages long (and its illustrated). My excuse is that I have the world’s shortest attention span and it is Christmas. I loved these stories. The rage in them fairly dances off the page. It also sparkles with humour and the final image of our heroines sitting in a bar listening to a Gargoyle band is beyond awesome. Catherynne Valente is such an amazing writer I am completely in awe of her.

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May 02, 2018 Rebecca rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018

"I belong in the refrigerator. Because the truth is, I'm just food for a superhero. He'll eat up my death and get the energy he needs to become a legend."

Well, fuck. What a great place to explore my rage at the way women are treated in fiction. ...more

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Jun 17, 2017 Joel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017

ALL THE STARS.

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Jan 29, 2020 Ashley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: heroes-and-villains, illustrated, behind-the-scenes, novellas, essays-and-stories, murder-most-foul, shop-on-your-own-shelves-2020, class-gender-race, graphic-novels-and-comics, speculative

The Refrigerator Monologues is a feminist response to the way women are treated in superhero comics. It's a short read, a novella really, at only 147 pages, but it packs a punch. Riffing on both the stage play The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, and Gail Simone's website Women in Refrigerators (which coined the term "fridging," for any female character who dies in order to further the plotline or character arc of a man), Valente's book six women whose lives were reduced to subplots for various The Refrigerator Monologues is a feminist response to the way women are treated in superhero comics. It's a short read, a novella really, at only 147 pages, but it packs a punch. Riffing on both the stage play The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, and Gail Simone's website Women in Refrigerators (which coined the term "fridging," for any female character who dies in order to further the plotline or character arc of a man), Valente's book six women whose lives were reduced to subplots for various superheroes, and gives them back their voices (which in most cases is little consolation; they're still dead).

At first I was a bit worried that Valente hadn't used real comics characters, but each character has a clear analogue, even if details in their stories differ. This gives the stories much more weight than they would have had otherwise, because her criticism has an actual target, but also speaks to a more general problem. The six women who give us their monologues from beyond the grave are Paige Embry (an analogue for Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man's famously dead girlfriend); Julia Ash (Jean Grey from X-Men); Bayou (Mera from Aquaman); Pauline Ketch/Pretty Polly (Harley Quinn from Batman); Daisy Green (Karen Page from Daredevil); and Samantha Dane (Alexandra Dewitt from Green Lantern, the character this trope is named for, since she was killed and left in a refrigerator for her boyfriend to find).

This is the first book I've read by Valente that I've liked without reservation, so perhaps I shouldn't give up on her as an author quite yet. She does a great job just zeroing in on the point of each woman's story, getting her voice right, and then doing it. It has the feel of a book that just fell out of the author's pen/keyboard (if that's not the case, then I'm even more impressed).

I liked all the stories, but I very much appreciated the presence of the Jean Grey analogue, because I have ALWAYS HATED the Dark Phoenix storyline (in every iteration or adaptation I've seen it in), and because it's not really linked to the existence of a significant other, hadn't thought to think sexism was why I hated it so much. But! That makes so much sense! I've always just hated it because I had this nebulous feeling that she was a victim of her writers, like okay she's very powerful, why does that have to be scary and bad? Why does that make her into a crazy person who kills everyone? Why?? This is not a story we've ever seen with a man at the center. Anyway, most of that story was great, except I wasn't sure what the point of that Retcon guy was. I mostly just found him confusing.

Highly recommend this one! ...more

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Jun 17, 2017 Lisa rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-release, rfantasy-bingo-2017, review-copy

Review from Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2017/0...

I love the concept of this book which gives voice to those sidelined females in comic books. It creates fleshed out characters that have motivations and thoughts and intriguing stories all their own. It shows they are something more than just a footnote in the story of a super hero.

And this book is all that, which is wonderful. However, this is going to be a hard one for me to review. When it comes down to it, while I love the ...more

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Jun 04, 2017 Tammy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The nitty-gritty: A powerful collection of loosely tied together stories of the women who fell in love with superheroes—and died because of it.

I never wanted children. Let’s get that straight up top. All I ever wanted to do was to drink beer, play my horn, and ride mutant armadillos till the end of the world. But you don’t get to hit those high notes when you’re Queen of something. Hard to scream-sing fuck the man authority is deathpuke anarchy in Atlantis when your mom is, like, the entir

...more

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Mar 18, 2017 Jacki rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, adult-fiction, science-fiction, fantasy, short-story-collection, 2017-best-of

As usual, Valente makes it all look so easy...

In this short story collection, six women share the stories of how involvement with superheroes and supervillains led to their deaths or downfalls. Ignore that part of the blurb that tells you to expect an entirely new universe, because although some details are different, the protagonists are blatantly based on DC/Marvel women. You've got:
--A Gwen Stacy, whose science experiment gave her boyfriend his powers
--A Jean Grey, who pops in and out of the ...more

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Jul 21, 2017 Meg Elison rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: beauty

The moment this book referred to Batman as a "leatherjock emo fuckmuppet" I laughed so hard I died. When it put Jean Gray into an abusive relationship with a villain named Retcon, my corpse cried itself back to life. If you are a ladyperson who reads comics, you need this. ...more

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Jan 30, 2018 MrsJoseph *grouchy* added it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2017-reading-challenges, 2017, need-to-review, library-r, dnf, returned-to-library-dnf, fantasy-urban

So, this was a DNF for me. This is a hard read. There isn't anything to alleviate the darkness of being used and dismissed/forgotten over and over again.

It's wonderful that the women had a voice but the end-game stayed the same, regardless. ...more

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Nov 11, 2017 Lena rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Lena by: Kelly

Shelves: fantasy

”I belong in the refrigerator. Because the truth is, I’m just food for a superhero. He’ll eat up my death and get the energy he needs to become a legend.”

These are the stories of the dead: women’s voices of the Marvel/DC universe forever silenced, because after all, it was never their story. Until now.

The Jean Grey story hit me the hardest.

”I was used and tricked and thrown away, but I cannot be forgiven. It’s a funny thing. You go your whole life thinking you’re the protagonist, but reall ...more

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About Catherynne M. Valente

Catherynne M. Valente

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Catherynne M. Valente was born on Cinco de Mayo, 1979 in Seattle, WA, but grew up in in the wheatgrass paradise of Northern California. She graduated from high school at age 15, going on to UC San Diego and Edinburgh University, receiving her B.A. in Classics with an emphasis in Ancient Greek Linguistics. She then drifted away from her M.A. program and into a long residence in the concrete and cam ...more

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“I belong in the refrigerator. Because the truth is, I'm just food for a superhero. He'll eat up my death and get the energy he needs to become a legend.” — 14 likes

“Bad things happen to bad people. Bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen to okay people. Bad things happen to everyone.” — 5 likes

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