papercraftalex's Reviews (368)

First and foremost, this book shouldn't be banned. While there are some explicit scenes, none are beyond the capability of teens or any worse than what they are absolutely seeing online.

With that out of the way, this book was unfortunately a disappointment. It makes for a decent memoir and George Johnson definitely has a way with words, but the manifesto part fell flat for me. They don't really acknowledge their privilege growing up as a middle class person, nor do they address their father being a cop except for at a brief line at the very end. If they wanted it to be representative of all queer people, then they should have gone more in depth with these topics. They also handled trans issues incredibly poorly. They deadnamed and misgendered their trans cousin, and says that they identify as queer now rather than gay because he's attracted to trans people. These sections left a very bad taste in my mouth. They also constantly call themself effeminate in a very negative way and never really deals with hating the feminine parts of themself. 

I like how they discuss being sexually assaulted. Going through almost the exact same thing as them, this part felt more like the relatable, helpful discussion they were trying to achieve in the rest of the book. I also loved the way they talked about their grandmother being such a guiding force in their life and how that is incredibly important for Black and queer youth.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book, but read if you're interested with these criticisms in mind.

I have not yet read the original of this, but I definitely plan to after reading the graphic novel. It is a stunningly haunting story about cyclic violence. The art really added a lot to the story, especially the unique lettering. I recommend this to all.

This is an adorable slice of life collection akin to Catana Chetwynd or Philippa Rice but featuring two bears! I really appreciate that the bears aren't gendered so it can reflect many different kinds of relationships and that Mocha is mute! 

There are many cute sections. My favorite shows Milk and Mocha trying to fit heart halves together, realizing they don't fit, and working together to mold the pieces into a full heart. It shows that people aren't just destined to be together with a happily ever after, but have to work to maintain a good relationship. Other panels show this too. It's very realistic for a book about bears!

It's also a perfect collection for teaching visual literacy. There isn't a lot of text, but it still tells a full story. I wholeheartedly recommend this!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Great book. Wish I understood it

Thank you to Querencia Press for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

This chapbook was full of vivid imagery and beautiful wording. It balances metaphorical with personal in a way that makes it easy to see the traumas the author has dealt with. There's also great use of unique visual structure to strengthen certain poems. Overall, it was a great work and I'll be looking forward to more poems by this author in the future!

There's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. It's an obviously great book with a few pacing issues. I'm looking forward to Jennette's future books.

Ejaculate Responsibly is a good essay that was entirely too long. It truly would have blossomed under a more ardent editor. Gabrielle Stanley Blair makes a lot of good points throughout this book and really made me rethink how I see pregnancy, abortion, and even relationships. It had a problem with repetitiveness that made some of the points less strong and I disliked how she quickly wrote off queer and trans experiences in the beginning, but overall was so quick and informative that I feel it's a worthwhile read.

This is a beautiful slice-of-life story about family. It shows how queerness is treated in Japan and the main character struggles with homophobia and grief while being a single father. The characters are so real and nuanced. Gengoroh Tagame is a master storyteller.

This is a beautiful story about family, societal expectations, parenting, and queerness. I literally cried so hard at the end of this that I had trouble seeing it! I'm excited to read other works by Gengorah Tagame!

It is impossible for me to not compare this to Girls Can Kiss Now, which was one of my favorite books from last year and a much better iteration of this book. Girls Can Kiss Now made me laugh out loud multiple times. The 2000's Made Me Gay got an occasional snort. It has a lot less media commentary than I expected; it reads much more like a general memoir. I'm young for the references, but she explains them (though very monotonously in a way that I'm sure people of her generation reading would dislike). She also doesn't really have an overall point or message to this collection (though it could possibly be "look how easy you youngin's have it these days", in which, yuck). Overall, I think if this book intrigues you, just read Girls Can Kiss Now instead.

(The author also gets multiple facts wrong: Hayley Kiyoko did not start her career out, Taylor Swift was born in Wyomissing and also did not come out as straight in Vogue.)