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smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
4.0
This was such a great collection of essays by Keah Brown, a young Black woman with cerebral palsy and the creator of the hashtag #disabledandcute - who shares her experiences growing up as a person of color and a disability. This book is full of important insights about learning to love yourself and overcoming the many obstacles of life in a very ablest society!
As a fellow person with a disability, one that often allows me to "pass," I related to many of her experiences. I also really appreciated the uniqueness of her experiences and it was nice to read a disability memoir by someone other than a white man in a wheelchair. We need more books like this one that illustrate the broad spectrum of disabilities and experiences!
I loved how vulnerable Keah gets in her book, opening up about how much she yearns to find romantic love and how challenging that is for a person with a disability. She also goes into depth about her own struggle to love her own body, in a world that doesn't represent her in mainstream media and doesn't value disabled bodies.
Highly recommended and enjoyable, told with wit and humor and sprinkled with lots of pop culture references. This book would be perfect for fans of Amanda Leduc's Disfigured or Lindy West's Shrill. Great on audio read by the author too!
Favorite quotes:
"Pity is not a thing I need, even now. I give pity so much power to control my daily life. The lesson it took me the longest to learn is that as a disabled person, what I need in place of pity, which does absolutely nothing to advance the community, are my rights, respect and opportunity....Together we can change the attitudes about and surrounding disability, as long as we remember that pity helps no one, while empathy, love and a willingness to fight, help everyone."
"I know now that people with disabilities can be and are loved and I have to remember that when I feel myself giving up or getting down on myself."
"There is also the fear that I am disappointing my community of people with disabilities by admitting that I don't know how to dismiss the internalized ableism of believing that an able bodied body is better than my disabled body. If only because it is desirable to a wider range of people and doesn't tire as quickly as mine. Why are people not more open to the possibility of dating someone with a disability? I ask, but do not know."
As a fellow person with a disability, one that often allows me to "pass," I related to many of her experiences. I also really appreciated the uniqueness of her experiences and it was nice to read a disability memoir by someone other than a white man in a wheelchair. We need more books like this one that illustrate the broad spectrum of disabilities and experiences!
I loved how vulnerable Keah gets in her book, opening up about how much she yearns to find romantic love and how challenging that is for a person with a disability. She also goes into depth about her own struggle to love her own body, in a world that doesn't represent her in mainstream media and doesn't value disabled bodies.
Highly recommended and enjoyable, told with wit and humor and sprinkled with lots of pop culture references. This book would be perfect for fans of Amanda Leduc's Disfigured or Lindy West's Shrill. Great on audio read by the author too!
Favorite quotes:
"Pity is not a thing I need, even now. I give pity so much power to control my daily life. The lesson it took me the longest to learn is that as a disabled person, what I need in place of pity, which does absolutely nothing to advance the community, are my rights, respect and opportunity....Together we can change the attitudes about and surrounding disability, as long as we remember that pity helps no one, while empathy, love and a willingness to fight, help everyone."
"I know now that people with disabilities can be and are loved and I have to remember that when I feel myself giving up or getting down on myself."
"There is also the fear that I am disappointing my community of people with disabilities by admitting that I don't know how to dismiss the internalized ableism of believing that an able bodied body is better than my disabled body. If only because it is desirable to a wider range of people and doesn't tire as quickly as mine. Why are people not more open to the possibility of dating someone with a disability? I ask, but do not know."
jennrreads's review against another edition
5.0
This book is incredible! It tells the incredible story of this strong woman. She tells her truths and even if you aren’t in the same situation as Keah, she will inspire you and will empower you and will educate you. She truly has given the world all the reasons to fall in love with her. Thank you for sharing your story Keah!
kaitburesh's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyable narrative style, but definitely repetitive at times. Overall a great perspective that we need to hear more of and will definitely be recommending this book to others who are interested in essay collections.
sakeriver's review against another edition
I think what I admire most about this book is how open and honest Keah is, not just about her struggles and triumphs, but about her joys, her flaws, her contradictions. It’s something I aspire to in my own writing, and I appreciate her for it.
balletbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
A very well-written essay collection about living as a disabled woman of color - how these intersections affect personal relationships, self-worth, internalized ableism, seeing one’s self (or not, as is the case) in books, film, and TV, and mental health. She writes so bravely about self-destructive thoughts and the plan to end her own life in a way that I think we don’t often “allow” in disability literature and she credits books by Sarah Dessen and Toni Morrison to helping her. Brown has a refreshing, direct but conversational style. A writer to watch.
dude_watchin_with_the_brontes's review against another edition
3.0
I struggled a bit with this book. It was very honest in ways that sometimes made me uncomfortable. That's not a problem with the book, and I think it's good for me to sit with that discomfort and examine it. But it was not an easy read.
I also found parts of it very repetitive. The essays often echoed each other, and there were a lot of lists, and plot summaries (or more than summaries) of her favorite books and movies. If you read it as text instead of audio, you could probably just skim the lists and repetitions, though. Overall, I'm glad I read it.
I also found parts of it very repetitive. The essays often echoed each other, and there were a lot of lists, and plot summaries (or more than summaries) of her favorite books and movies. If you read it as text instead of audio, you could probably just skim the lists and repetitions, though. Overall, I'm glad I read it.
readingwithstardust's review against another edition
I'm not going to put a star rating on this one, but I can say that I wouldn't really recommend it.
bookslifeandeverythingnice's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books and Keah Brown for an ARC ebook copy. As always, an honest review from me.
Like:
- fun, quick, entertaining read
- Love her personality
- Discusses that she doesn't want people using her life as a disabled person as their inspiration (instead of being inspired by her personality, achievements and general awesomeness!)
- Her discussion about learning to do her own ponytail
- The author's personality --> it really shows through her writing style and keeps the book a perfect mix of fun but serious
- Discusses depression and suicidal thoughts in general and related to disabilities --- shows people that they're not weird for dealing with these issues
Love:
- created the hashtag #DisabledAndCute --- love it! ❤️ Puts the focus on looking nice and also shines a positive, inclusive light on her, and others, disability
- Truly educates about ableism which is so important since many people at ignorant about this topic and need to educate themselves. So definitely read this book and do a google search!
Dislike:
- Ignorant, rude people that Keah has encountered throughout her life
Wish that:
- there was more (at least in the beginning) about her relationship with herself and within the disabled community, and less about her jealousy of her sister ---- this is mostly related to drama in my personal life and the issues it reminds me of by reading her book --> later on the book becomes more balanced
Overall, a wonderful read that I'm so happy I requested as an ARC copy. I highly recommend it!
Like:
- fun, quick, entertaining read
- Love her personality
- Discusses that she doesn't want people using her life as a disabled person as their inspiration (instead of being inspired by her personality, achievements and general awesomeness!)
- Her discussion about learning to do her own ponytail
- The author's personality --> it really shows through her writing style and keeps the book a perfect mix of fun but serious
- Discusses depression and suicidal thoughts in general and related to disabilities --- shows people that they're not weird for dealing with these issues
Love:
- created the hashtag #DisabledAndCute --- love it! ❤️ Puts the focus on looking nice and also shines a positive, inclusive light on her, and others, disability
- Truly educates about ableism which is so important since many people at ignorant about this topic and need to educate themselves. So definitely read this book and do a google search!
Dislike:
- Ignorant, rude people that Keah has encountered throughout her life
Wish that:
- there was more (at least in the beginning) about her relationship with herself and within the disabled community, and less about her jealousy of her sister ---- this is mostly related to drama in my personal life and the issues it reminds me of by reading her book --> later on the book becomes more balanced
Overall, a wonderful read that I'm so happy I requested as an ARC copy. I highly recommend it!
gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
This memoir focuses a lot on the industry of film and entertainment and how they show society standards and versions of people that fit nicely into boxes, but in reality people cannot be placed into just one box. These boxes lead us to create images in our mind of what is beautiful and pretty often leaving out groups of people, with the focus of for this book being disable people.
Keah Browns tells her story of how this and other aspects of her life have changed and influenced who she is today and the perspective of the world she lives in.
Keah Browns tells her story of how this and other aspects of her life have changed and influenced who she is today and the perspective of the world she lives in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Ableism, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Grief and Death