aimiller's Reviews (689)

Another great time in the skies with my good friends the Alphabet Squadron! But really this book was so tense and fast paced, and also I think a much deeper character dive in a lot of ways than the previous book, but it's all so balanced over all, between action and espionage and yes, that character development and inner world. I will admit it took me a second to reestablish where the plot was, because I have no memory for previous books, but things fell into place pretty quickly and just so much happening all the time but all of it was so good and intense. I'm really excited to see how this series ends, and can't wait for the next book! 

Just an incredible work. Gill-Peterson manages to rewrite much of the standard narrative of transitional medicine by drawing on histories of gender medical intervention in children, and ideas about their development as they shifted over time, and does so just so powerfully. I probably need to return to this to understand just how the concept of plasticity is being used, though I think its inscrutability is to some extent the point--that is is too slippery to be actually useful even by the people who constructed it as a concept. 

Gill-Peterson's deep care for the children written about in the book is obvious and makes the book all the more compelling, as well as the argumentation about how the figure of the trans child as a marker of futurity, and with no history attached, does damage to actual trans kids (and, I would argue, also trans adults.) All of this is just so important and really challenging me to rethink not only my own work but also the way I frame my politics around urging care for trans kids. The conclusion kind of made me cry! It was so good and so important and I'm going to return to this again and again. 

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

Which is not to say I liked this very much? Many other reviews have noted the extremely graphic descriptions of self harm, and I'll add a spoiler-ed warning for

on page suicide

but overall I also just didn't find it very interesting? I think the pitch of "gothic horror meets Victorian manners" book to me begs a little more comedy than there is room for in this book, which has like maybe one moment that gave me hope but otherwise did not feel that way. 

It just felt deeply graphic in a way I did not personally enjoy--and normally I wouldn't object to that kind of thing, but it didn't feel like it added very much to the story either.

Also the plot twist at the end did not seem to me to then lead to the conclusion it did? It just seemed weird? I hoped for a second that it wasn't going to end the way it did but then... it did.

You might like this if you need some gory gothic horror! It ultimately wasn't for me. 

FOLKS. THIS BOOK. NOT GREAT TO READ IN A PANDEMIC. But also it feels like everything comes so full circle (lol) here in such amazing and powerful ways. I just love these characters so much and every book it has felt like the stakes get a little bit higher and a little bit higher. Some of it was predictable to some extent but I don't think that predictability hurt the book in any way--if anything, it made the tension of it all greater. 

I can't wait to read the next series, but this was such an amazing end that deeply highlighted the growth of all the characters, loved it so much. 

The title essay is an essay I'd recommend in lieu of certain popular books about whiteness; though it references a specific historical moment I don't know much about (and I would love to know more!) it really cuts down to the heart of whiteness-as-violence and how we must be anti-white in our anti-racist movements. The other essays are maybe of less interest to folks who are not labor historians, and some of the reflective work on labor historiography was not super interesting to me, though it does mean I know I have a lot more reading to do. But there was also stuff in other essays I love--white communists trying and failing, mostly, and some fascinating looks at the construction of whiteness in the United States. 

That opening essay though really turned kicked my butt and I want everyone to read it so pick this up even just for that! 

Things that were good: the concrete worksheets to help center your focus or help you make decisions could be very useful (especially in paper copy--I read this on ebook so a little more difficult but you could definitely copy them easily by hand!) Obviously also naming power structures is important and something most self-help books are missing. 

Things that were rough: though the explanation they give for why the science is so cis-centric is true, there's also no inclusion of trans women's experiences (and really, apart from I think two places, trans people have no place in the book at all.) I think also by focusing only on "patriarchy" as the power structure at play, they minimize a lot of factors at play, speaking broadly instead of specifically. I understand it's supposed to be broad, but I think it falls flat here. (Also a lot of questions about men of color in their formations of power, but I might just be nitpicking at this point.) 

So I guess I'd say: totally easy to take the things you need from this if you're a cis woman, and especially a cis white woman. And there is stuff in here for more people--I don't think that the worksheets or tactics won't work for you because you're a trans woman. But definitely another example of "trans inclusive" feminism that doesn't actually do any work to include trans people of any gender beyond rhetorics. 

Just delightful, once again--I think this might be my favorite of the series so far. It manages to build a broader world and take the consequences of the last two books very seriously, while also give the children agency in how they approach the problems. Daja's arc here is so compelling and interesting and it's (I think) a pretty beautiful conclusion to the narrative (though obviously her story continues!) I found the ending kind of predictable, but for me that didn't hamper the story at all, and in fact made it more satisfying than anything else. 

Really deeply enjoyed this; the feeling is definitely different from book one, where so much time is spent on setting up the story and world and introducing the characters and their magic. Here, it feels so much more fraught and tense but not in a way that is like off-putting, and I love the ways that you get to see more of the world (especially regarding the magic of the mentors.) It makes me love the characters so much more, as they feel more fleshed out and real, and I couldn't even wait and immediately dove into the next book, oops! 

This was pretty good--definitely heavy on the worldbuilding when I think I enjoy the characters of Discworld more than the world itself, but I can see how it opens up some doors for more interesting things to be explored. I like the character of Rincewind and I'm looking forward to seeing more with him, but I think for me this felt too choppy, between the gods and the stuff happening on the Disc and everything else. It also felt shorter and kind of rushed at the end? I don't know if it actually is shorter than the other Discworld books I've read, but it felt shorter and less complete to me, but maybe that's how this arc of the books work? I'll have to keep reading to tell for sure. But yes, interesting worldbuilding, an interesting character to keep following, but felt kind of disjointed for me personally. 

A powerful collection; Akbar manages to evoke the growth of moving on from assuming you'll die so well, and manages to do it without glorifying the pain itself, but with compassion.  Some really beautiful stuff in here, for sure.