not typically a romance fan but i did enjoy this a lot!!

I especially LOVED the first half of this book and the last chapter. overall, this is a very thought-provoking, critical, and moving collection of essays that (at times) made me want to cry and scream and tear my hair out about the state of the world. 

She is incredibly reflective about navigating being viewed and treated as “other” in the place where you live; it’s hard for me to articulate my emotions surrounding this, but they’ve been perfectly captured here. 

a portrayal of chronic pain explained in a way that those of us living without it can understand (as best as we can) and empathize. 

hunger is incredibly honest and vulnerable, in ways that i cannot fathom being with people in my life. roxane gay dives into how how her relationship with food and with her body has been shaped throughout her life and by the world as she moves through it. 

read this one slowly. 

A well-constructed post-apocalyptic dystopian world. I liked that it’s told from two character’s perspectives, and that I had to piece together some connections between them. 

I did read this one first in the series (oops) so I’ll be going to read the others now! 

Surrealism! Tears! Laughter! Pro-environment/sustainability! Love!!!! This anthology has it all. 

The stories are short, but somehow in their limited length they still found a way to a) build a fictional world, b) talk about love, and c) make me care about the characters. I’m impressed—this is a seriously talented group of writers. 

It’s been two weeks and i’m still wrapping my head around what i think of this absolutely massive book!! I’m not typically a fan of fantasy, but this was so interesting! I loved that one of the characters was a writer, and we had glimpses into their process (and presumably some glimpses into the authors own process as well). 

The characters were complex and I was immersed in their world. There were some really interesting (but weird) elements, but they were well described and as a result didn’t feel too far fetched. 

Some questions were left unanswered, but overall I am satisfied!!! A good read, though it requires a little bit of time to get invested. 

Reading this prompted a lot of reflection on my own relationship with my mother, and a renewed attempt to empathize with her perspective. Well written and intriguing essays with a HUGE range of topics. I will be following up on other work by some of these authors!! 

Caution! Read at your own risk of evaluating your relationship with your mother (and any mothering figures in your life). Prepare for some emotional labour. 

this is sort of what i expected, and sort of not. it’s not very well written (it reads like fan fiction) and the characters are kind of flat and boring, but it was an interesting story. 

some things i didn’t like: (mild spoilers ahead, these thoughts were originally a series of texts) 

• stereotypical “he hates everyone except her.” • big age gap, esp when they first met (23 to 31 i think). • why did he book a room with double beds for the entire length of the conference if he is a single person only going for half of it??? • short timeline!! 2 months from not knowing each other to being in love. • tom sucks and she had no self esteem to recognize that, and that was harassment and assault. • also her “friends” spread rumors so fast. • why are they forcing pda in front of so many academia people?? relationships are allowed to be private

although i didn’t love this (or particularly like it), i DID read it in one day, so bonus points for being engaging, i guess? 

this was decent and had some more creative elements than i had expected (hello aliens) but i didn’t love it. i got the impression that it’s trying to not be an overtly anti-war book, but it is not succeeding. 

i did appreciate the representation of ptsd as jumping through time—an interesting way to tackle that.