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trovi's review against another edition
3.0
Para leer antes de que salga La Sirenita así evitan quejarse porque "Ariel tiene que ser blancaaa!!11!" y quedar como unos boludos ✨
reveal's review against another edition
5.0
There's a big chance this is the most important book I've read all year, and one that will inform me as a writer / reader for years to come.
klduncan86's review against another edition
4.0
Technically a 3.5 rounded up to 4. Despite my misgivings I highly recommend this book to readers and watchers of YA fantasy/horror/scifi books, as there is a lot of really great information.
The theme of the book is great, as a white non-binary reader from the older millennial age group, the largest problem I had was the inclusion of fan fiction. The chapter on the Hunger Games I thought was great (I'd use the word fantastic, but because of how it is used in the book, I don't feel like it is the correct word here). The following chapters, had a lot less on how people reacted on social media, and more about how people, mostly black adolescents, perceived the readings through fan fiction. In terms of Gwen in Merlin it was not a large "problem," but between Bonnie in Vampire Diaries, and the characters in Harry Potter I thought it was a determent to the overall narrative of the book. I understand how some of this is due to the how different age groups "respond" to books, but I do feel that, at least in the case of Harry Potter, that some of the fan fiction analysis was outside of what I wanted to understand from this book.
The theme of the book is great, as a white non-binary reader from the older millennial age group, the largest problem I had was the inclusion of fan fiction. The chapter on the Hunger Games I thought was great (I'd use the word fantastic, but because of how it is used in the book, I don't feel like it is the correct word here). The following chapters, had a lot less on how people reacted on social media, and more about how people, mostly black adolescents, perceived the readings through fan fiction. In terms of Gwen in Merlin it was not a large "problem," but between Bonnie in Vampire Diaries, and the characters in Harry Potter I thought it was a determent to the overall narrative of the book. I understand how some of this is due to the how different age groups "respond" to books, but I do feel that, at least in the case of Harry Potter, that some of the fan fiction analysis was outside of what I wanted to understand from this book.
josiewrites's review against another edition
4.0
An incredible read for anyone who wants to closely examine how they create and consume media in a racial context. Though it flagged a bit for me in the final chapter, the majority of the book provides some really incredible insights and should be essential reading for anyone looking to get into speculative fiction
foreverinastory's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
This was freaking phenomenal. I will definitely be rereading this in the future. Thomas talks about so much in the intro that I'm itching to annotate a physical copy and I almost never do that. I'd also be really interested to see this book expanded and updated.
The Dark Fantastic brings Critical Race Theory to YA Fantasy. This book uses the various lenses of CRT to look at how fictional BIPOC are treated in both the books and movies. It also analyzes colorism and misogynoir. I found this so incredibly fascinating and really enjoyed Thomas's takes on Merlin, The Hunger Games, Twilight, Vampire Diaries and Harry Potter.
I will say that the chapter about HP felt like the least explored one. Thomas discusses Hermione and Angela Johnson, but I feel like it missed out on pointing out several of the other flaws in Rowling's world like the naming of Cho Chang and how she made Jewish people into goblins. I also would love for someone to finally point out how excessively transphobic JKR. She showed her whole face in 2020 but the signs were there before then.
The Twilight and THG chapters were super interesting to me because I've read all the books and watched most of the movies (sorry Mockingjay). I loved how Thomas points out that Katniss is treated differently in the books because she is darker than her sister. There were just so many amazing analyses in this book. The Merlin and TVD was new to me since I haven't seen either of the shows and only read two or three of TVD books.
Overall, this was fantastic. I really enjoyed listening to this and I definitely will again.
CWs: Racism, misogyny, misogynoir, HP discussion/references. Minor: death, violence.
The Dark Fantastic brings Critical Race Theory to YA Fantasy. This book uses the various lenses of CRT to look at how fictional BIPOC are treated in both the books and movies. It also analyzes colorism and misogynoir. I found this so incredibly fascinating and really enjoyed Thomas's takes on Merlin, The Hunger Games, Twilight, Vampire Diaries and Harry Potter.
I will say that the chapter about HP felt like the least explored one. Thomas discusses Hermione and Angela Johnson, but I feel like it missed out on pointing out several of the other flaws in Rowling's world like the naming of Cho Chang and how she made Jewish people into goblins. I also would love for someone to finally point out how excessively transphobic JKR. She showed her whole face in 2020 but the signs were there before then.
The Twilight and THG chapters were super interesting to me because I've read all the books and watched most of the movies (sorry Mockingjay). I loved how Thomas points out that Katniss is treated differently in the books because she is darker than her sister. There were just so many amazing analyses in this book. The Merlin and TVD was new to me since I haven't seen either of the shows and only read two or three of TVD books.
Overall, this was fantastic. I really enjoyed listening to this and I definitely will again.
CWs: Racism, misogyny, misogynoir, HP discussion/references. Minor: death, violence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Racism
Minor: Death and Violence
ccneary's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.5
Informative critique of race and gender in popular fantasy series.
meghan_is_reading's review against another edition
Read for #bookclub4m literary criticism genre but does deal quite a bit with more than just the lit pieces of several big fantastic media (Hunger Games, BBCs Merlin, the tv series Vampire Diaries, and a smaller bit on Harry Potterdom) these media and fan engagement is used to illustrate Thomas' theory of the Dark Fantastic as well as how fan engagement and "restorying" have evolved in a digital age of fanfiction and #WeNeedDiverseBooks. Thomas comes from perspective of an insider re: fan cultures, speaking about her own experiences in fan communities for both Harry Potter and Vampire Diaries. I found the text both readable and meaty, although I was not familiar with 2/4 of the medias chosen. (I was a little disappointed this was more about the visual mediums and less about the books but I did pick this up based on the cover so...)
softrosemint's review against another edition
it's hard for me to rate important books and i feel this book is truly important.
i have been on the internet for more than half of my life and have, in fact, belonged to many the fan spaces discussed in the books. i remember amandla's casting as rue and the uproar (and the casting of jennifer as katniss, for that matter too, and how for a poc coded character suddenly it was fine to cast a white actress as long as "she suited the role best"), the nasty treatment of angel coulby as guinevere, the assassination of bonnie bennett by her own show writers. i also remember many black fans rightfully calling out the above treatment and reflecting on their wider fandom experience.
with this in mind, i am very glad that such experience has been academised. i think it is important to bring issues of race and the treatment of characters of colour, particurarly black characters, to the forefront and to the attention of virtually any non-black person who would like to pursue any form of storytelling. it is important to listen to the experience of others and learn to see their point of view.
i have been on the internet for more than half of my life and have, in fact, belonged to many the fan spaces discussed in the books. i remember amandla's casting as rue and the uproar (and the casting of jennifer as katniss, for that matter too, and how for a poc coded character suddenly it was fine to cast a white actress as long as "she suited the role best"), the nasty treatment of angel coulby as guinevere, the assassination of bonnie bennett by her own show writers. i also remember many black fans rightfully calling out the above treatment and reflecting on their wider fandom experience.
with this in mind, i am very glad that such experience has been academised. i think it is important to bring issues of race and the treatment of characters of colour, particurarly black characters, to the forefront and to the attention of virtually any non-black person who would like to pursue any form of storytelling. it is important to listen to the experience of others and learn to see their point of view.
raoionna's review against another edition
5.0
Exceptional ~ Thought-provoking ~ Important
tl; dr: Forget you! Read this.
Ebony Elizabeth Thomas is a well-known scholar, so I am not surprised her book is fantastic. She does what the best of academics should do--reframe what we think we know. The book is ostensibly about literature. But, really, it is about our society, and the ways literature reaffirms social norms, many of which are pernicious and racist. Her book is powerful and truthful. My favorite part of this book is how she subverts surface diversity initiatives and shallow liberalism. Thomas using very current literature, like Hunger Games, as part of her analysis. This is academic but readable. Well-read, or so-called well-read, people should find this book. Much of how you see the way literature isn't working (or functions now) will change. I cannot recommend this book enough.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
tl; dr: Forget you! Read this.
Ebony Elizabeth Thomas is a well-known scholar, so I am not surprised her book is fantastic. She does what the best of academics should do--reframe what we think we know. The book is ostensibly about literature. But, really, it is about our society, and the ways literature reaffirms social norms, many of which are pernicious and racist. Her book is powerful and truthful. My favorite part of this book is how she subverts surface diversity initiatives and shallow liberalism. Thomas using very current literature, like Hunger Games, as part of her analysis. This is academic but readable. Well-read, or so-called well-read, people should find this book. Much of how you see the way literature isn't working (or functions now) will change. I cannot recommend this book enough.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.