Bailey
So so great!! Sometimes when I have an issue I'm working out I think “how would Rachel Harrison translate this into a supernatural situation and then what would be her genius extremely topical and relatable intersectional feminist approach to addressing it” and then I just translate it back to reality and all my problems are solved.
I am an attorney who learned a little bit about how the law impacts sex workers during law school, but this book taught me a TON I didn't know. It provides a super nuanced perspective and I found it really accessible, describing tricky legal issues and policies with very clear and easy-to-understand language. I also really appreciated reading about people's lived experiences, and thought the book provided strong arguments and data to back up the solutions it advocates for. Definitely recommend it!
This was a neat little story and well written but I personally am so bored and irritated with the “‘it's a mystery and what's going on and things are strange' buildup that leads to the ‘ohhh it was just Christianity all along' reveal” trope. It feels like such a cop-out to me to build and create a whole new world that has so many possibilities and then have the explanation behind it be “oh right, Christianity.” I really liked the writing and would read other things by this author, I'm just always so let down when a book relies on the most pervasive and tired occult force in the world whose supremacy is already integrated into everything in existence as a way to explain an otherwise inventive plotline away.
I've loved everything I've read by Grady Hendrix and this one is no exception! Complex and imperfect characters that don't fit into standard archetypes, explorations of generational trauma and its manifestations, and artfully written with a ton of heart and empathy. Not to mention it is SO creepy and scary and eerie and I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. I will not be forgetting certain scenes for a while. Really excellent visceral imagery and a creative storyline, which is not easy to do with a haunted house plot. Definitely recommend it!
This book was really creative, I appreciated the surprise sci-fi vibes. The story itself was cool and unique and thought-provoking, but I didn't really connect with the characters. A lot of the reviews are calling it “political” which is clearly a dogwhistle; the book is about rampant sexism and racism in academia, not politics. I did find a lot of the messaging to be redundant and annoyingly heavy-handed, I think the book could have done with some more editing for that.
Entertaining story with a focus on disability justice. I learned a ton about deaf culture and history, and appreciated the emphasis on grassroots organizing as essential to disability justice. I listened to the audiobook version which was really cool because sometimes they included the sounds that go along with signing (breath sounds, movement sounds, etc.), which I hadn't thought much about before.
So good!!!! I listened to the audiobook version which was a very particular experience and I definitely recommend. Grace Lavery is a genius and her book assumes its readers can keep up and it takes some cracking open of new brain pathways to follow sometimes but in a way that is hilarious in a revelatory way and super worth the work.
I looked at some of the reviews with not a lot of stars and they all seem to be like “this wasn't for me” which, fine, but is that a value statement? Or “it's too all over the place” which I don't think it is if you pay attention.
I think this might have been more enjoyable if I were part of the literary/publishing world? For me it was an unlikable protagonist doing questionably problematic things and lying to himself about them, which I guess is something we should all learn to recognize from a cognitive dissonance perspective but it didn't capture my interest. The book didn't feel super thrilling because the stakes felt pretty low and unless I missed something the multiple meanings of “plot” and book-within-a-book tropes/themes fell a little flat. I did like the ending but it didn't salvage the whole book.
I avoided this book for so long because I assumed with “detransition” in the premise it would be terf-y, really glad about how wrong I was! Reminded me a lot of The Argonauts but I liked it better because it felt more relatable and accessible but just as (if not more) brilliant. There was some really beautiful writing, a super nuanced look at so many normally 2d queer plot points, and a refreshing perspective. I kept realizing how infrequently I read books with transfeminine pov characters. Also just an enjoyable read overall.
