shelbs_can_try's Reviews (694)

This was an excellent summarization of white, slave-owning women in the south. The author provided well-researched descriptions of the various actions, atrocities, and intentions of these white women in a series of chapters that each had its own theme/topic. While not every point she made was new to me, there was some very specific instances that she discusses that made me pause, highlighting aspects of American society that I never would have thought stemmed from racism. I believe that this book will remain a regular reference for me, and I will be recommending this to anyone who will listen. Note, I only knocked a star off because I found a few of the chapters repetitive, resulting in some of her key points losing traction. Hard, but great read.

What a charming read! This book is set in a world following it’s almost-self-destruction. Dex, a monk with a lot of heart feels like they are missing something in their life leaves their life behind in an effort to find purpose again. During their travels they come across a robot named Mosscap who  is upbeat and curious. Together they have conversations about life/death, nature, humanity, and purpose. 

I enjoyed every second of this book. Chambers uses beautiful language centered around nature. Dex and Mosscap’s friendship is borderline grumpy/sunshine and I love it (Dex isn’t really grumpy, just more timid and introverted and Mosscap reminds me so much of BEN from treasure planet just a lot less unhinged lol). There’s great non-binary representation. Everything about this book was fantastic! Can’t wait to continue on!!

 I loved Fowler’s description of setting. I was immersed and enjoyed every second of it. I was, however, disappointed with the overall organization of plot. The beginning was exciting and the ending was emotional, but the middle dragged a bit. Everything that she wrote about never felt finished. Every idea she had was fleeting and felt abandoned. I also didn’t love the language centered around people of color and queerness. I get it was ‘part of the times’ but I don’t think it really added to the story to include it. If she was trying to express that these ideals were bad, I’m not sure I would consider her method successful. 

Overall though, I did find the historic interpretation fascinating and I liked her writing style (but not choices) to try reading from her again.