galacticvampire's Reviews (366)

It's impossible to evaluate a book without considering its context. Written in the early 80s, Feminist Theory was dealing with a completely different framework of both society and the feminist movem, but that only makes more glaring how many of the issues explored are still extremely relevant.

40 years later, the debate about what we now could call the #GirlBoss-ification of feminism has never been more pressing.

Focusing on different spheres of social life for each chapter, hooks main point is that feminism goals shouldn't be dictated by a small, high educated, rich and white minority, and that no true feminist ideal can be achieved without class and racial equality.

There are, of course, oudated ideas, like when it comes to sexuality and community, but the core values in these sections are still useful, and resignifying them is essential for progress. Criticising biological essentialism, women oppression by the hands of women, varied gender stereotypes according to race and class, individualism, golden star lesbians, and man-hating. All of these topics are relevant today, even if in different context or application.

All in all, hook's writing is dense, but not complicated, and while this is undeniable a technical text most people could follow the ideas presented.

This was insane!!

I definitely liked it better than the first book, specially because it's considerably easier to follow both in pov aspects and timeline.

The main plot is exactly what we got from the ending of book 1: getting Darlington out of hell, but the way there is brilliantly unexpected, built like a puzzle with hints and misdirections and plot twists that keep you entertained at every step.

I did miss a little bit of the other houses, as here they have already become background for Alex, and honestly there were maybe a little bit too much of subplots than necessary (

I particularly didn't feel like the whole thing with Alex's past added anything relevant

) but none of that really hinder my enjoyment of the book.

The story shines is how detailed everything manages to be, from the lore, to a background murder mystery, to dozens of classic references. I can't wait for the next step in this series!

For a while I wondered if my affection towards this book was due to it being one of the first queer romances I read, and my young and impressionable self.

It wasn't.

Red, White and Royal Blue is still an unparalleled queer romance for a reason. It's witty, it's charming, the cast is great, the dynamics are fantastic, the plot is moving. There isn't much else to ask for.

Romance characters tend to be annoying, because drama is part of the genre. But here, Alex's and Henry's hiperbolic circumstances makes all the drama quite plausible. And McQuiston balances it all very well to still keep the mood quirky and fun.

Once again, five years later, I'm orphan for a story that can match everything this book made me feel.

I had mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, it's a great character exploration of Han and Leia and I had fun, on the other, the plot is an absolute drag.

Starting right after the battle of Endor, we follow Han and Leia tying the knot (in a magical and beautifully written scene) and being coerced into a honeymoon marketing the Rebellion victory. (It is, also, marketing for the short-lived Disney Star Wars Hotel)

While some descriptions of the Halcyon get a little silly, like Han talking for a whole page about the great showers, the section in the ship really highlighted their dynamic: Han is still suffering from PTSD from his year in carbonite and insecure about his place in a future where his wife is forever in politics, while Leia struggles with the knowledge that Darth Vader was her father and can't keep her head out of work even during her honeymoon.

The meat of the plot, though, only kicks in during the last third of the book and is unnecessary considering how generic it is.

Leia pulls a Karen and deceives the ship's Captain to change ALL of the passengers itinerary because she wants to make a political connection, then they meet a Empire remnant drilling the planet to destruction, investigate, save the day at the last second, the end

.

Regardless of this, Leia and Han's bantering and talking is fun enough on its own and I love that we got another tidbit of them.

In Cultish, the linguist Amanda Montell takes on the task of explaining how language helps shape human relationships with cults and cultish organizations.

Which is really surprising because I found it considerably surface-level on the context of linguistics itself. She is a great storyteller, and this is an incredible work of social studies, but when it comes to language? It's more like some brilliant moments peppered in than the bulk of the narrative.

Maybe it's because the author was stretched thin from all the topics she wanted to cover. We have old-school cults, MLMs, group gyms and influencers, all of them cultish, but complex on their own.

From an overall understanding, we actually cover a lot of ground on how each of these work on enlisting and keeping followers, which was cool, but I spent the whole time expecting something revolutionary or surprising. It never came.

Tie-ins are not really my jam, but Black Spire managed to merge hints of Disneyworld with a deep and sensible plot. 

Yes, sometimes the *wink wink* references to the park got a little too on the nose, spending time better used exploring the characters with things like a cantina menu description, but as someone who hasn't been there, it didn't get corny. 

I absolutely love the cast. Both Vi and Archex are interesting and complex in their own trauma, and the supporting characters are also quite unique, creating a really endearing dynamic. 

My biggest issue was  how removed from the main story they had to be to preserve the park's independence from events. The logic as to WHY they are in Black Spire doesn't make much sense, and everything ends up being inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. 

In the end, I wanted MORE of them, and thought they deserved to grow beyond the limits of a merch story.

"Oh what if The Great Gatsby was exactly the same but from Jordan's pov and there's some magic here and there. Also, everyone is gay except Tom, because he's the antagonist." 

This is not a retelling. It's fanfic. Self-insert fanfic. And it's such a shame because this would've been a brilliant low-fantasy set in the 1920s if it didn't try to follow the original plot happening beat for beat.

Why?? There was so much to be explored between orientalism and an actual original magic system and yet we spend time rehashing Great Gatsby scenes slightly to the left. It makes for great fanfic, but not so much for a novel.

The prose is truly beautiful and it deserved its own story to tell.

Going over the Jewish and Palestinian struggles since before the israeli settlement, this book goes in detail of how the conflict evolved year by year.

Every chapter also offers testimonies written at the time, giving perspective how both sides viewed the issue at different stages.

It doesn't really pretend to be impartial, reinforcing multiple times the ethnical cleansing happening in Palestine and not really showcasing the terrorist side of Hamas, but it does show effort in empathising with the desire of Jews for sanctuary.

All in all, it's a heavy and oftentimes infuriating read, but well worth it.

This is absolutely my favourite Junior novel so far! Ram is, as always, a delight to follow, and he balanced the other characters very well.

Their portrayal was a little confusing, sounding and acting more like 10-12 year olds then the 14 they were supposed to be, specially considering we already have a baseline for comparison in all the other books.

All in all, it was really sweet and fun to read, while still giving every character complex motivations and exploring the cruelty of the occlusion zone.

Getting another aftg book was beyond any expectation I could ever have. 10 years later, we finally get to close that last plotline, the last boy to finally get his shot at life. 

This is very clearly part of a different world than the one where the main series takes place. Yes, it still is All For the Game, but it's also calmer, more grounded. 

The Sunshine Court is a story about healing. It's not plot-heavy or fast paced, but that isn't to say it's boring in the slightest. It builds and builds and builds, and Jean is such a deliciously complex character. 

He's rude and broken and sensitive but so, so caring. He worries so much and you can't deny he's genuinely a good soul who's been mistreated into brashness. 

And it's impossible for Jean not to outshine everyone else, and that would be okay if Jeremy didn't have a POV on the books as well. I like Jeremy. He's fun. But as soon as Jean steps in California he becomes less of a character and more of moral support reference. The other Trojans are cool, but I'm yet to be impressed by them 

I am really satisfied with what was delivered, and can't wait for more!