aimiller's Reviews (689)

Some really gorgeous poetry and some I didn't love, though of course ymmv and it's an important collection nonetheless. I kind of wish it was more chronological--it just sort of threw me to do the whiplash of a poem about the Trump administration and then go back to a poem about the aftermath of 9/11. 

Definitely glad to have this collection out there, though, even if it wasn't my thing personally! Some of her poetry about being a lesbian was really really gorgeous, loved that. 

First off, I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, and I'm grateful to the publisher for the opportunity to read it.

This was a solid, interesting memoir--Ameri's prose is simplistic but also lets us into her world in such a welcoming way, moving seamlessly between her personal life and activist work and showing (critically) just how intertwined the two are. She doesn't try to explain or rationalize her work on behalf of Palestinians, work she does note that she does alongside Israeli people, and other Jewish people, and I think that is really important in a world where people are often demanded to explain how work for Palestine and Palestinians is not anti-semitic (unreasonably so.) I also learned about number of famous Arab American folks who I didn't know were Arab American (Diane Rehm? James Abourezk???) which was a nice surprise at the end!

I kind of wish I had read Ameri's first book, The Scent of Jasmine; it felt like I had missed some things of the early book, and though I'm sure this is fine on its own, it did raise some questions for me about her earlier life. I guess I will just have to go back and read that! But this was a thoughtful and interesting memoir of an important activist, and I think it's super accessible for folks who would benefit from this kind of history! 

A fascinating, well-written history of resistance particularly of Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people and those who share land claims with them, though the book also stretches outside of those nations as those peoples interact with other nations. Estes does a great job of challenging the historiography where it fails, and keeping the history coming from within community where possible (and it's way more possible than most histories have acknowledged.) 

I'm like very behind the times, but the chapter on indigenous internationalisms had me like shaking the book and demanding more. I'm really looking forward to digging into those citations, but I think it's a totally accessible intro to that and I really think could be super effective in a classroom. I certainly wish I had access to it sooner! That tipped it over for me, though I recommend the whole book regardless, for its specificity and accessibility. 

Just an incredible and incredibly important read. So many narratives about how to support survivors of child sexual abuse from Black people, mostly cis women but also trans women and a few men. Theres's a wide variety here regarding solutions and dreaming of what is possible--some carceral, but also transformative and reparative justice arise as possible solutions. Important to see the ways in which many of the solutions overlap around upfront sexual education as well as material ways in which believing children and building trust that children WILL be believed can take shape. 

So grateful to have this collection out in the world, and definitely recommend folks pick it up to hear from survivors what they need and want, and how they're imagining a better world. 

There's a lot of layers to this, though I do think it's a fairly accessible text--maybe like a feminism 200 level book, rather than a specific intro. I think it's a book that's really open to an interesting discussion on so many things, making it very useful in the classroom for sure. 

The section where she discusses her own feminist awakening(s) but in the second person is certainly a choice that I struggled with, because it took what was a personalized experience and made it feel universalized (which is a thing that happens a lot in less careful feminisms through discussions of socialization that universalize rather than personalize;) while I appreciate the need for distance from her own trauma, I think it made that section far messier and unclear than it might have otherwise. 

And the chapter on lesbian feminism was exciting but also kind of retrod a lot of areas that don't match up always with the women of color feminism that Ahmed is in the tradition of (interesting to read that chapter alongside Audre Lorde's writings on why separatism isn't feasible, for example--which I don't think is necessary for a lesbian feminism, but is a greater feature of Ahmed's lesbian feminism than I think makes sense. Plus, the separatism is less fun than the loving women and being oriented toward women, but that's a whole other essay.) 

But I do think it's a solid read, and again, could be super useful in teaching for sure! 

The COMPETENCE OF THIS ONE. Everyone doing their best is just delightful... finally Sybil is at the height of her powers instead of just like quietly pining after her husband. Vimes being so bad at diplomacy that he's good at it actually. Angua doing her own damn thing and Carrot not being perfect. Just every part was kiss kiss kiss kiss. We love to see it. My one complaint is more Vetinari but we know how I am and where I'm at. Great job everyone, we love to see it. Also help, I'm running out of Watch books. 

This book was a journey, both literally and figuratively. The beginning conflicts felt a little... contrived? Like we just had to invent a conflict. But also then by the end I was like fully crying about the resolution and these KIDS, MY BABIES ALL GROWN UP, I LOVE THEM. 

Not that you would start here, but I do think you need all the previous books to have this feel as good as it felt for me. So definitely don't start here, but also getting here was so much of a journey and watching these kids grow up has been so much. Pierce's character work here is really divine, loved it, want more. 

5 stars really but minus one half star because Sir Terry made me read Islamophobic slurs like a LOT. 

HOWEVER this book sent me into full feral V/V mode... Vetinari's dog... Terry's morals mean nothing to me any more, no one cares, VIMES IS VETINARI'S DOG 

Truly I cannot write a more coherent review than this. It was a delight, it did everything I wanted, but good GOD Terrance do not make me read slurs!!! Please!!! And then pretend that the "other side" also has slurs!!! They don't!!! Power exists in the real world!!! 

Anyway, more V/V, fewer slurs, more Nobby Nobbs in a dress. These are my demands. 

Really gorgeous prose, intense magical realism vibes and a lot to chew on (probably a really good book club book, though I didn't find the book club guide at the back to be very good but I never do lol.) How this is NOT trans is mind-boggling to me, but I guess it just speaks to the expansive destructive power of patriarchy. Definitely recommend (and it's a pretty quick read!) 

This was really cute--Morgan and Eli both were super lively characters, and you got a real sense of both of their struggles and who they were and were growing into. I can see kids REALLY loving this book, especially if they already like fantasy worlds like Narnia, though I don't think they need to have read that to love this (and it might be good to have a conversation with them that the fantasy of Narnia is different from the way that Cree stories work and have meaning for people!) 

I definitely want more in this world--because it's a kids' book, it felt short and like we were just scraping on the edge of some things, which is why I gave it 3 stars (y'know, not all books are for me and that's cool!) But I would definitely buy this for a kid in my life if I had one!