readingpicnic's Reviews (500)

Truly an excellent book that gave me a better understanding of disability justice in such an accessible way. Hell yeah, care work is such an important part of the disability movement and just as valid as other activism! The author’s narration was phenomenal; I could listen to them talk forever.

Only knocking off half a star because there were a lot of long pauses in between words sometimes that were not edited out of the audiobook, and they were still apparent on 1.25x speed. There was also a little repetition of almost the same sentences a couple times throughout. Overall, this was excellent though and did a great job connecting Black resistance through time and across continents in a way that felt seamless. Sometimes violence is the answer! 

Starting off pride month by sobbing

Some stories were better than others, but I’m glad this little anthology exists. Also obsessed with the cat comics.

Such an incredible book, and what an incredible woman she was. I watched Tourmaline’s short film Happy Birthday Marsha for my trans studies class in undergrad, and I feel like I can appreciate it so much more after reading this biography of Marsha. There is so much love in the writing of this book, and it really came through in her narration of the book as well. 

I don’t have many words for what this book did to me. So many things can be true at once. If you’re pro death penalty after reading this though, then read it again.

Super interesting book with a great narrator. I wasn’t as interested in the epilogue once they mentioned The Body Keeps the Score, but eh.

Very well balanced self-interrogation around trans identity and social justice while in a drug-induced state for much of the novel. This author goes HARD for ketamine, and I found it very interesting how k intertangles so deeply with her transness in terms of dissociating and finding comfort in one's body. There were also memes created by the author spread throughout, although I did find them difficult to read in my print copy (as well as the rest of the text, which is such a small font). 

So fun with a great audiobook performance. I do wish the “historical figures being brought back to life” part had been fleshed out a bit more, but I loved that Bob played herself in the book and that I got to learn more about Harriet Tubman. 

I did take a long pause in listening to this audiobook due to ~surgery~ and not having a commute to listen on, but that didn’t lessen my appreciation for this book. The character development between the MC’s view of Margarita between the beginning and end of the book was beautiful, and I cried like a baby. Such a reflective and quiet nicely-paced book.

My favorite quote of the book:

“No one will ever be as perfect as those transvestites with busted faces. No one ever as beautiful as the women who sacrificed everything to reach a beauty undecipherable to idiot eyes.”