One of the most haunting, devastating, brilliant, innovative memoirs I've ever read. Machado breaks down her experience in an abusive relationship intOne of the most haunting, devastating, brilliant, innovative memoirs I've ever read. Machado breaks down her experience in an abusive relationship into a series of thoughtful, well-researched literary tropes and conventions. So incredible I hardly know what to say about it. Just read it....more
A well-researched but super dense look at the planets through mythology and dissecting the connections of those myths to capital, power, labor, genderA well-researched but super dense look at the planets through mythology and dissecting the connections of those myths to capital, power, labor, gender, patriarchy, racism, etc.
To start, I feel as though this went a bit askew in its title and marketing. The opening and closing sections discussed astrology, but the meat of the book is in relation to the mythology behind the gods and the planets, and doesn't exactly connect any of that to the modern western astrology interpretation of the meaning of those planets. What each planet represents in a chart has evolved considerably since the planets' naming and connection to the gods - and several of the planets we use in modern western astrology weren't discovered or recognized until more recently, so it also doesn't cover all of them. In this sense it feels more like a book about mythology than astrology. It's helpful to know all of this in the broad picture of astrology but I don't know that I would call this a purely astrology book. I read it with a group and basically all of us were expecting a different kind of book, which I don't think is a failure of the book, but a failure of how it has been marketed.
The writing is a bit all over - for each valuable insight there's also a fair amount of assumption or jumping to points or conclusions. For example, the term neoliberal is thrown around a lot, but as anyone who has gone through the last two election cycles knows, that term has evolved from what the original meaning was to now being lobbed as an insult with some detachment from the original meaning. At no point does she put forth the context in which she is using the word. There are occasionally pages-long retelling or summaries of various artistic works and pop culture references, and it can really take the steam out of the engine at times, when much shorter summaries of the referenced works would have done the job. At some point I just started skipping over these to get to the point she was using them to make. All this to say, there's clearly so much research here, but it's not always referenced in a way that does that research justice.
The Venus and Mars sections were the most impactful for me, admittedly probably because sexism and gender is something I have lived experience of and spend a lot of time thinking about. At one point in these chapters, she breaks down Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey in stunning fashion. I also appreciated how often she reframed different human struggle - from the myriad ways humans are pitted against each other in order to distract from class war, or how the military industrial complex is actually an opposition to citizens. Those are the pieces of the book that I can see myself coming back to, and that will live with me for quite some time.
Definitely a worthwhile read, but again, I'd adjust expectations going in. If you're looking for something a bit more strictly astrological focused, or more modernized astrologically focused, I'd check out Alice Sparkly Kat on twitter - or her website (and I believe she has a Patreon, too!)...more
Been awhile since I read these, so it's hard to remember why I rated this one on the higher side when I remember having mixed feelings about the endinBeen awhile since I read these, so it's hard to remember why I rated this one on the higher side when I remember having mixed feelings about the ending. (view spoiler)[I knew it was going to happen but I still absolutely hate when books have people end up with their first love or whatever. It's so damn toxic, and even though it was clear all along that Alina would never give Nikolai a real shot, I wish she would've. I was also really, really disappointed in how one-sided Bardugo made the character of the Darkling. In the first book, it felt like there was a lot of potential for a complex character in him. With the dynamics of the Grishaverse I think we could've had more of a X-Men style, Dr. X v. Magneto kind of struggle, where at the very least you can understand the perspectives of the "bad" guys even if they're being posited as "bad," and where it feels like there is at least some mutual respect among the dissenting approaches. But, alas. He just becomes your standard super bad, real bad, y'all he's just SO BAD baddie, and sure there's the token attempt to humanize him a bit towards the end, but I was pretty disappointed. The first vision of him felt like it had a lot more promise. (hide spoiler)]...more
I love Issa, and I love, love, love "Insecure." Been a minute since I read this, but I remember enjoying it, but also wishing that there had been moreI love Issa, and I love, love, love "Insecure." Been a minute since I read this, but I remember enjoying it, but also wishing that there had been more autobiographical content. The essays were the most interesting when she was writing about her own life....more
Having sat on this series a bit, in hindsight, this may be my favorite book in the series. Sure, it's full of YA tropes, but the world-building is reaHaving sat on this series a bit, in hindsight, this may be my favorite book in the series. Sure, it's full of YA tropes, but the world-building is really strong, and I appreciated the complexity of the relationships and the characters in this book, and had hoped that that complexity might carry throughout the series, but it felt like some of the characters got a bit flatter as it went on. Parts of it reminded me of The Fifth Season, with the ability to manipulate the environment and such....more
This was cute! I don't generally do a lot of romance - in some ways, I think I'm just too tender of a heart for it. Rom-coms and romance novels alike This was cute! I don't generally do a lot of romance - in some ways, I think I'm just too tender of a heart for it. Rom-coms and romance novels alike tend to reduce me to a sobbing mess, thanks to the absolute abomination that is my romantic life, so they don't end up being much of an escape or light-hearted read for me.
A friend read this and said it made her think of me because astrology plays a part in it, and it's also based in Seattle. The whole "let's pretend we're in love" but then they actually fall in love is totally one of my favorite romantic tropes, too. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't write it....more
I struggled with this book because, whew, it was violent and dark. Which, clearly, is part of the point. We're supposed to struggle with it, it's suppI struggled with this book because, whew, it was violent and dark. Which, clearly, is part of the point. We're supposed to struggle with it, it's supposed to be difficult to read.
Beyond facing that violence, beyond accepting the history of my privilege as a white woman, and the ways that I have benefitted from racism, I don't really feel like it's my place to review Kindred in any sort of way. I don't need to add my voice to the discourse on a book about slavery by a black woman. Doesn't feel like my place.
Much like The Pisces, this book will not be for everyone. That's fine. Not every book needs to be for everybody.
Milk Fed tells the story of Rachel, a Much like The Pisces, this book will not be for everyone. That's fine. Not every book needs to be for everybody.
Milk Fed tells the story of Rachel, a woman who has shoved herself into a series of tiny boxes and labels, designed to make everyone around her comfortable, to make her desirable to others. It asks what would happen if she stopped doing that.
I don't think many men will like or relate to this story. Rachel is a messy, tornado force of a woman. She's hungry, literally, but also emotionally - she's a woman who wants more. Pop culture and society have told us that women can't be these things. Women have to be, above all, likable, and a lot of people really struggle with women - real and fictional - who don't put that at the center of their being. At the same time, even though I don't think we're supposed to like Rachel, I did - because I think there is a piece of her in a lot of women who deny themselves what they're hungry for (whether literally or metaphorically).
Milk Fed feels like a complement to The Pisces in that it's another sharp meditation on relationships, love, addiction, codependency, care-taking, and self-work - but where The Pisces was charged with a certain amount of male energy, Milk Fed is entirely feminine energy. The two work well together....more
Honestly, a perfect book that definitely all people who are women or who love women should read, but that probably anyone would benefit from. It's amaHonestly, a perfect book that definitely all people who are women or who love women should read, but that probably anyone would benefit from. It's amazing how many of the themes in this book popped up in my life, or in the lives of my loved ones, while I was reading it. Something I will undoubtedly revisit....more
Can't stop thinking about this fun, strange, delightfully frank novel. Does everyone have that relationship in college where you're obsessed with eachCan't stop thinking about this fun, strange, delightfully frank novel. Does everyone have that relationship in college where you're obsessed with each other but won't be together for one reason or another? Where the love feels like new territory, like you have your own language? I definitely did, and The Idiot felt like re-living it. Batuman has this way of being both hysterically and painfully abrupt/direct - it's a very dry and situational sense of humor, which I absolutely love. It takes a bit of time to build, and it feels like it loses a touch of steam towards the end, but overall, a really enjoyable read, and one I could see myself picking up again some day....more
Update: I recently finished the mini-series adaptation of Normal People on Hulu, and interestingly, it gave me a bit of a different perspective on it. Update: I recently finished the mini-series adaptation of Normal People on Hulu, and interestingly, it gave me a bit of a different perspective on it. I found I liked Connell significantly more in the show - I think it's partially that kind of character is hard to capture in an internal monologue - it's hard to demonstrate that someone doesn't communicate when you're reading their innermost thoughts, and also that the actor who played him just did an absolute dynamite job (both leads did). It also gave me a bit of a different perspective on the story. (view spoiler)[It made me appreciate the positive aspects of the relationship between Connell and Marianne a bit more. The toxic dynamics just jump out at you with such force, but there is sweetness there, too. I see the ending with a bit more sweetness, that they have both grown, and that they never would've grown without each other, and their willingness to part is evidence of that growth. The past version of Marianne that was desperate to please Connell would've followed him anywhere, and the past version of Connell that didn't have confidence would've never submitted his work or applied for a grad program, etc. (hide spoiler)] It was really a well-done adaptation.
Original review: I've been trying to think about what was so good about this book that made it hard for me to put down, because it was, and I'm still not sure that I can pin-point it.
In some ways I think it's that there is so much here that is easy to relate to, at least to a certain kind of person who's been through a certain kind of heartache. The kind where you want so badly for someone to notice you, to care about you, to let you in. The kind where you know that you could give and give and give and give of yourself to the person and never stop. It's not a healthy love, not at all, but it's truly drug-like, and there's nothing else like it. There were several people in my 20s who would leave and come back, leave and come back, leave and come back. I spent so much time wondering why they would come back, thinking that the coming back meant something, even having them tell me that the coming back meant something - but in so doing, I was focused on the wrong part. I should've been asking why they kept leaving, because that's the story.
It reminds me a bit of another book I read this year and loved, The Idiot.Review here. It's a different kind of relationship in some ways, but a similar kind of relationship in others.
Basically if someone has ever completely laid waste to you, you'll probably relate....more
I think mostly, it wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting this to be full of stories about various dating experiences, moderatelyThis was... ok.
I think mostly, it wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting this to be full of stories about various dating experiences, moderately roasting men, but then maybe also finding ways in which they are endearing? I don't really know. But what it really is is Blythe mostly making fun of herself? But also talking about how she's a workaholic and how she hasn't ever technically dated?
It kind of feels like a book that doesn't know exactly what it wants to be. She's very funny in parts, and very try-hard in others. I kind of want to buy her a drink and affirm her and be like, hey, you're cool as hell, and you don't need to put yourself down. Also, could you maybe roast Virgos a little less. Also, let's talk about how ridiculous and absurd dating and men are, cause I thought the book was going to be more about that.
I will say, the last few sections are spot on. She does a send up of how "You deserve better" is a bullshit line that men serve up when they break up with you, talks about how women's writing always gets demoted for talking about love when men's doesn't, and really starts to hit on the kind of content I had been expecting more of. Those parts were what made me go, ok, reading this was entirely worth it for that alone.
I do think that, overall, there's a lot of good here, and I would like to see how her writing develops and grows. It sounds like she's got another book in the works, and I will definitely read that.
Gods, this was both fascinating and horrifying. The description says it all, Adrienne Brodeur's mother reeled her daughter into her affair, acting as Gods, this was both fascinating and horrifying. The description says it all, Adrienne Brodeur's mother reeled her daughter into her affair, acting as confidante and conspirator. As someone who has, admittedly, been involved in one, and who has friends and family members who have had them, affairs are complicated and complex things, and it can be easy to villainize the people who have them. (Esther Perel wrote a great book about this.) What Brodeur does best, I think, is capture the incredible range of emotions involved in all parties. It's not a flattering portrait of her mother, obviously, but she does still write about her mother with incredible empathy considering the position she was put in. It didn't feel like a hit-job, more like a woman coming to terms with what she went through, and the domino effect that the affair had on all of the people who it touched. It would have been easy to paint her mother and her lover as bad, bad people, but she gave them as much depth as she could. Not an easy thing to do, and I think Brodeur deserves a bunch of credit for that....more
One of the things you learn early on in creative writing is that you need to make your characters want something. Lily King is particularly adept at fOne of the things you learn early on in creative writing is that you need to make your characters want something. Lily King is particularly adept at filling her characters with all sorts of longing. Casey, our protagonist, wants a lot of things - she wants to write, she pines for her mother who passed, she wants love and sex, she wants a stable living situation, she wants to have a job where she isn't harassed - all things so many of us want.
The writing is beautiful, and Lily King captures certain kinds of people and feelings and experiences in such a deft way. The plot felt a touch cliche and predictable, but King fills it with so much life and character that it's kind of easy to ignore. Thing is... I just loved Euphoria so so much so it was hard not to go into this with very high standards due to this, so I think I felt a touch underwhelmed in part because of that (which is my own doing.)...more
Originally rated it four stars because it definitely will NOT be everyone's bag, but bumped it up to five because it is STHIS BOOK. THIIIIIIIS BOOOK!
Originally rated it four stars because it definitely will NOT be everyone's bag, but bumped it up to five because it is SUPER mine. I absolutely could not put it down.
An enthralling meditation on codependency, addiction, fantasy, sex, love, dating, family, care-taking, self-work, friendship, so on and so forth. It's raunchy, it's dark (in ways both humorous and serious), and it's surprisingly realistic for a book that involves a relationship with a merman.
Again, super not for everyone - but if you have a dark, raunchy sense of humor and an understanding of codependency, you'll probably dig it....more
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