I’m from West Virginia. I went to read this and just decided NOPE. I don’t care about the family background and Dopesick is a much more balanced book. 

This book brutally unveils how everyone suffers from racism. This is a must read for every American, especially those who are on the fence about being “political” 

There are too many POVs. I don’t like how the have the little sister poised to be trouble and how “she couldn’t have had anything bad happen” to her. I feel like if I read on, I’ll just get pissed off by how they accuse her of whatever happens. 

Hessel’s work here is brilliant. She often writes in the first person, telling her favorite of each artist, and it feels like I’m having a conversation with another neurodivergent person who’s info dumping on the topic. It’s delightful! It also made me rethink what I thought of as art, moving away from the canvas to medias I never thought were artful. My only complaint is I feel there’s some underrepresented demographics like those who are disabled or indigenous. 

I now know Mirakami is as batshit as I’ve heard. 

Radke takes a rather cheeky approach to how the appearance of fitness and femininity have shaped the last century or so. She analyzes body ideals and the idea of beauty through looking at just one part of the body. It’s a unique take for sure. 

Her explosive prose truly is a manifesto on how to be a modern feminist: loud and proud!