aimiller's Reviews (689)

This was okay? It felt like it wanted to be longer than it was, which is something because it already clocks in at like 500ish pages. It just felt like so much was going on at once and so, so much of that was battle stuff that didn’t tell us very much about the larger plot or character relationships. It just all felt squished, which was disappointing because I think there’s a lot in here that’s actually interesting and could have been drawn out in different ways, but it was all compressed to make it fit into this single book—or maybe that the book couldn’t decide what it was about. 

Some of it was still fun—many of the characters did feel somewhat compelling, if we could only Get Into It—but they felt pretty un- or underexplored. 

An intense, compelling, fascinating read. The stakes are so high from minute one, and the issues about drug trafficking, jurisdictional issues with justice, and the complications of finances on reservations are made abundantly clear without coming across as patronizing or particularly pain-porn in tone. I had a hard time putting this down, especially in the last third, and my heart was racing the entire time! Definitely recommend for folks wanting to read more books by Native authors—I think it’s deeply approachable, and grabs you in the opening chapter and doesn’t let up the whole time! 

This was solidly okay in terms of broad queer history. There are bits and pieces that I think that are good--the AIDS section in particular I think does a very good job actually of showing the scope of the ongoing crisis, and not just putting it into the past. Some of the language feels a little patronizing--the frequent use of "rude" to describe structural homophobia and transphobia eventually made me wish for literally any other word--but that may be a very YMMV thing.

I think the book's greatest weakness ultimately is a weakness that most of these broad queer history books for younger folk have, which is this deep adherence to the US settler state's politics of inclusion. The book literally ranks marriage above domestic partnership and civil unions when there are lots of reasons and choices for folks not to choose marriage, which is a little yikes. I know we don't yet have an Against Equality trilogy for young people (if someone wants to tap me to write that, I'd love to!), and wanting this book to be that isn't it, but it's frustrating to see the limits of queer imagination in these types of books, and also how that colors our visions of the past. (PS, Oscar Wilde was married and loved his wife and I wish we talked about that more, though I don't blame these authors for participating in a very long discourse they stumbled into.) 

I really enjoyed this, as weird as it might be to say that about a book that to me feels like a slightly more grounded The Road. Watching Vern's journey through trust and mistrust I think is a fascinating story in and of itself, and as the larger mysteries unfold the story comes together in pretty powerful ways. I do think that because it's so rooted in place and history, the more fantastical/sci-fi aspects came across as a little jarring, but I do think the story at the core was important and is an interesting look at grappling with that history.

Oh what a mess of a book. As other reviews have noted, there's a great deal of confusion around language in this book--it doesn't seem to know what to do with trans people in general, conflating trans-ness with sexuality in some parts and separating it with others (which theoretically I'd be fine with except for the inconsistency of it all--it feels more like a mistake than a political move.) 

I think my biggest beef with it all (beyond yknow the nationalism of tying up queer history with US history and in particular with American myths about ourselves, which I think we should be questioning, but it also like makes sense given the title,) is the inconsistency overall in methodology with regards to whether or not we can call someone from the past "gay" or "trans." The authors (and I'm unclear how much of this is the original text itself or the way it's been adjusted for "young people" (more on that later)) lay out that we can't do this, which is of course a valid way of approaching queer history, but then in the actual chapters there's a lot of flopping back and forth on whether or not we can claim a history from these people. As an example, when talking about Emily Dickinson, the text reads "However she may have thought of herself, Emily Dickinson was certainly a woman who loved other women." It all feels very like trying to have your cake and eat it too, and while I understand the tension--to offer youth a history grounded in an awareness of the way that our ideas about sex and sexuality have changed over time--I don't think this is a good way of approaching it (and I think settling a history in individuals is also a bad way of going about it, but yknow here we are I guess.) 

The other issue I have is who this book is aimed at. I assumed (and picked up the book based on the idea that) this book is aimed at young teens, maybe ages 12+. The book itself seems to indicate it's aimed at people in their late teens and early twenties--not in terms of how the language is written (I still thought it was aimed at 12 year olds reading it!) but with an actual phrasing that comes late in the text. And while I wouldn't discourage an 18 year old from reading this book (I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading anything!) I think you can probably read a much better queer history book for adults and get a better sense of the history. 

Overall this was most disappointing because young people deserve better than this! I haven't yet found a good replacement (and I might have to write it >.>) but I wouldn't recommend this, especially as the first contact a person might have with queer history. 

A fascinating look at the debates around and defenses of male intergenerational sex. I was struck honestly with how carefully most writers tackled the issues of power and consent. There's a vast set of opinions and angles, including taking up seriously the critiques of lesbian feminists who opposed NAMBLA--and I think I was most struck by the inclusion of interviews with and writings by actual youth who are involved themselves in intergenerational relationships, and the questions they raised about consent, and in particular youth liberation. 

I think we've hit a historical point where we can be super dismissive of NAMBLA, but I found this book to be super enlightening about what the people involved felt was at stake, and I think gives us insight into the ways that the new battleground over youth (namely: trans youth and their access to healthcare) is in fact incredibly similar to this, and what lessons we should draw from it. Fascinating and weirdly relevant!

This was just jaw-droppingly, can't-put-it-down good. Brammer does an amazing job of taking these large existential questions and rooting them down in his own lived experiences--and doing so with compassion and deep insight. It's also just like... incredibly readable? Which sounds like a weird compliment but I seriously couldn't put it down the first day I picked it up. I was briefly worried that, as someone who reads Brammer's column, this would feel recycled, but it absolutely doesn't, and it's so healing and funny and delightful. A++

I got this as part of Tor.com's free ebook program, and I'm grateful to the publisher for the chance to read it. 

This was a real roller coaster of not understanding a single thing going on in this book and then inch by inch by inch getting a minute understanding of the plot and world. I did finally, by the very end, feel like I understood this book but the learning curve was so difficult to get through that if I didn't have a Personal Problem where I have to finish all books I start (yknow for my Total Read count) I absolutely would have given up on it. 

It's not offensive, and once we got really going and things started to come together it was tolerable! It's not the worst high fantasy out there, and if you like that kind of thing you might enjoy this more than I did! As it is, it was. Fine but I probably won't continue to read the series. 

This was a really beautiful and moving collection, though also obviously emotionally difficult and sometimes intense. The diversity of experiences--not just racial, obviously, but also feelings about the miscarriage and infant loss--I think also contributed to the power of the collection. It's clearly not the same story over and over. 

It's also obviously an insight into the gap between medical knowledge and information and the way that people process their miscarriages. I think it could be really instructive for medical providers to read this and see the way that their reactions are perceived by patients, and understand how that's taken (in addition to the way that racism clearly impacts how patients of color, especially women of color and Native women, are treated by medical providers.) 

This was really gorgeous--it took a little bit to get into, but once I got going with it, it was really beautiful and tender while holding all these complicated characters in their entirety. The conclusion really felt right in the larger scheme of things--grappling with the trauma in the family in a way that really both felt real and like resolved without being magically cured. It's just a really beautiful look at the complicated way that love in families happens, the aftermath of that, and what beginning to heal might look like, and I really liked it a lot.