This was trippy.

This one was weird and creepy.

Strange and weird.

Another weird one.

Disturbing.

The idea of this book fascinated me, but it fell short. I just couldn't get into the book. The characters feel shallow and underdeveloped for me. Maybe it's just that I'm not in the right mood to read this, I don't know, but I couldn't finish it. I'll try again another time, though.

Reading this book while surrounded by a ton of older, conservative, and overly religious women was a surreal experience, but it definitely had me appreciating the story more.

And I say story, but this is nonfiction. And it's said to see where our world once was in regards to GSRM (or LGBTQIA+) issues. But knowing where we started and seeing where we are now? That's inspirational.

Reading about Rachel's difficulties was hard. I felt so hard for her. And then, to learn the source? I understand the issue. Deeply.

Rachel, if you happen to read this review, I'm glad you're doing better and have returned to yourself.

Spoiler

I now know: All of the Cornish game hens and love letters in the world won't change the fact that if you disappear when you are in a relationship, you need to walk away. And immediately call your friends and family to talk to them about it.

It's not really a spoiler, but as it's the last line of the book, I felt the need to hide it down. I cried when I read this.

Okay, I started off reading this book pretty pissed off. This privileged woman is all "I've got my one kid, I don't need another" and then switches to "but I can give another kid SO MUCH" and then instead of thinking about adoption immediately chooses to just pop out another one when there are so many in actual need? Fuck that. I was tempted to DNF this.

But, as life does, she was unable to create another biological child of her own. As someone deliberately child-free, I'm kind of glad of that because it at least sent her towards adoption, but I feel sorrow for anyone struggling with infertility when they would like to bear their own child.

Overall, I'm glad I finished the book, because there's some nice lessons about judgement, listening, and a few other things. I'm just still so annoyed at the privilege of "I can give a kid so much, let's make an entirely new one instead of helping one that's already here" that I can't give this five stars.

I love that this story is about a man and his grandmother. Walking through his memories and seeing their relationship is a pleasant trip down someone else's memory lane.