skudiklier's Reviews (647)

I wasn't sure about this book going in, but I really enjoyed it, and I think it could be a very transformative read for a lot of people. It's truly not about Benedict Cumberbatch (even if you feel like it might be based on the preface). It's more like a feminist manifesto on loving what you love, on female joy, and on not feeling guilty or stressed about doing things that are purely for your own pleasure. It's about a woman's journey to not being embarrassed by things that are deemed silly or cringey or "girly" by others, and about learning why those things are not only okay, but important.

As someone who's been a nerd unafraid of seeming cringey for pretty much forever, I wouldn't have thought I'd get a lot out of this book to be honest, but I'm really glad I read it. For one, Carvan overthinks this whole identity crisis to such a degree that she talks to experts in various fields, and the things she learns from them were fascinating. She also frames the central questions of the book in so many ways; I think no matter who you are, you'll learn something from this book.

Honestly I mostly wish men would read this. Like, it's mostly about the author's personal journey, and it's an entertaining and easy read, but it also explains so much of the struggles women (and in many cases nonbinary people, and anyone either perceived or raised as a woman) go through that men don't, in a way that I think would be good for them to read.

I took a lot of screenshots and notes while reading this, and enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. And not gonna lie, it also made me want to watch Sherlock. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Putnam Books for the chance to read and review this ARC. 

Oh my god this book was amazing. Heartbreaking, and terrible, and complicated, but so so amazing. I'd recommend it to anyone. It was devastating and beautiful and I don't have better words to describe it. 

I barely got into it, but I was pretty bored and annoyed by it, so I skimmed random parts later on and looked at reviews to see if it gets better. As far as I can tell, this book is great for people who are introverts but feel worried or upset about it, and for extroverts who don't understand or appreciate introversion. If I had read this in high school, I think I would have loved it and it would have had a very big impact on me. But I don't think I need this book, as I'm introverted but I know a lot about introversion already. Also just from the very little I did read, it seems kind of repetitive and oversimplified. I just didn't want to make myself slog through it when I'm already over it so early on. 

I really loved the couple of Smith's poems I'd read before, as well as his nonfiction book; his writing is beautiful. But this fell somewhat short of my expectations, and I'm wondering if his writing has improved significantly in the few years since it was published. I would definitely still recommend it, and his poems are amazing commentaries on race of course. I look forward to reading more of his work. 

This is a great way to get into or back into poetry! I already love poetry and spend a lot of my time both reading and writing it, so a good deal of it wasn't exactly meant for me, but I still appreciated reading it, and it was brief enough that it never got boring. Some sections were inspiring and others were helpful reminders of some of the basic strategies I don't think of trying anymore. I definitely have notes to write down from this book before returning it to the library! But I'd mostly recommend this to people who are hesitantly interested in poetry but afraid they don't get it or won't know where to start. 

This book was really interesting, and for once I kind of guessed some of the twists/reveals ahead of time. I kept expecting the book to get suddenly more intense or sad, and though of course it was sad, I never came close to crying. It's almost like the mystery distracted me from how sad it was. But! Overall it was written well and it's a powerful book. Not sure I'd recommend it, but I definitely don't regret reading it. 

I really really loved this. I just finished it and my heart is aching--it was funny and sweet and heartbreaking and I want more of these characters as soon as possible. 

This book acknowledges that it is not exhaustive or enough to fix everything, but it is a helpful tool and resource for individuals, and a list of places to start to move forward after the hype of summer 2020 died down. 

A lot of the essays are very short, really just introductions to some of these ideas, but they explain in a quick and accessible way how things are wrong and some concrete steps to fix them, at least in the short term while coming up with larger solutions. They're broken into sections focusing on areas like climate, health care, wellness, education, technology, criminal justice, the economy, and public policy.

There are different points of view, including a couple contradictory ones--I was surprised that the first criminal justice essay argued for diversity in police, but then another essay did argue for abolition. Overall though these essays provide a fairly detailed summary of ways to solve so many of the most pressing issues in the United States right now, with a clear focus on Black Americans.

I'm really glad I got the chance to read The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System; I feel like if even one of these policy proposals are implemented, it will be a small step in the right direction. 

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read and review this ARC.