This is a fantastic collection that does get in the weeds from time to time, but has a fantastic premise: the author examines , primarily, the ways agency was taken away from her. She then unpacks the events and shows in a feminist way, how and why they were so impact duo and stymied her development at the cost, or sometimes service to, others in her life.

Wonderful prose, harrowing (as you might imagine), and brutally honest. I think it’s written at the exact right time in the author’s life as well. A lot of what makes the book successful I think comes from the ability to analyze and contextualize things with the experience she has now. Had it been written later the memories might not have been so keen, potentially? Had it been written earlier, I’m not sure the examination would have been as profound and intricate.

This was the only stand-out great book of my booktube prize group. As I said: it does get in the weeds sometimes, sometimes retreading ground and circling a point. But it’s always engaging and not something I’ve read before, and completely, unabashedly feminist.