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thecatwood's review
3.0
A nice compilation of essays and comics about love and fandom. It's refreshingly diverse, and the stories are a mix of happy endings and bittersweet endings, along with many reflections on how fandom reflects and influences our love lives and sexuality.
ljrinaldi's review
3.0
DNF at page 40
But this is a bit disruptive as I did read all the cartoons in the book. It was just the short stories that drove me to stop reading.
Nothing wrong with the book other than the text narratives did not hold my interest.
Great cartoon stories though. Had great fun reading those.
But this is a bit disruptive as I did read all the cartoons in the book. It was just the short stories that drove me to stop reading.
Nothing wrong with the book other than the text narratives did not hold my interest.
Great cartoon stories though. Had great fun reading those.
dayne's review against another edition
4.0
Short stories and comics from the lives of geeky women. All the stories are well told and interesting. Slice of Life at its best
v_nessa's review against another edition
4.0
I can't remember how or where I heard about this book but, as with many many graphic novels, I got it from the library! It's an anthology mixed with comics about being a geek girl. There are so many different stories and so many different perspectives I believe there actually may be something for everyone.
As with all anthologies some stories/comics are better than others but I think it all evens out in the end. I enjoyed the stories I enjoyed and the others I didn't enjoy so much, well I don't think about them at all. There is a lot of interesting stories about growing up as a geek girl, many different challenges as a geek girl looking for love, and just generally trying to find your "place" in life.
There were TONS of geeky references and I got a lot of them but by no means did I get them all, however, there were enough that related to me. This is definitely a fun book to read in chunks because it is directly suited for it with its short, and complete, chapters interspersed with comics.
Plus, there are comics by Margaret Atwood in it.
As with all anthologies some stories/comics are better than others but I think it all evens out in the end. I enjoyed the stories I enjoyed and the others I didn't enjoy so much, well I don't think about them at all. There is a lot of interesting stories about growing up as a geek girl, many different challenges as a geek girl looking for love, and just generally trying to find your "place" in life.
There were TONS of geeky references and I got a lot of them but by no means did I get them all, however, there were enough that related to me. This is definitely a fun book to read in chunks because it is directly suited for it with its short, and complete, chapters interspersed with comics.
Plus, there are comics by Margaret Atwood in it.
szenekfanni's review against another edition
2.0
I'm so sad to give this 2 stars, like who am I to judge women's real-life experiences, but I just didn't care about most of the essays?
First of all, I had no idea this was an essay collection because in my library app it was in the graphic novel section (the comics took up like 5%). And I usually don't read essays because I know it's just not my cup of tea. Also somehow I didn't get that the "secret loves" really implies love and relationships. Also a topic I'm not really interested in.
So every essay is basically a different author's story or opinion about love filled with references. Geez so many references. After a while, I was kinda fed up with them and the whole "embrace your nerdiness" message was just a bit too much for me. Yes, I understood a specific metaphor because I know who Frodo is, but I don't feel any special.
Well, I liked the art and a few essays (hence the 2 stars not 1), but a lot of them I just skipped.
First of all, I had no idea this was an essay collection because in my library app it was in the graphic novel section (the comics took up like 5%). And I usually don't read essays because I know it's just not my cup of tea. Also somehow I didn't get that the "secret loves" really implies love and relationships. Also a topic I'm not really interested in.
So every essay is basically a different author's story or opinion about love filled with references. Geez so many references. After a while, I was kinda fed up with them and the whole "embrace your nerdiness" message was just a bit too much for me. Yes, I understood a specific metaphor because I know who Frodo is, but I don't feel any special.
Well, I liked the art and a few essays (hence the 2 stars not 1), but a lot of them I just skipped.
lucyblack's review against another edition
3.0
This is interesting and a real mixed bag. I find it really hard to read edited collections of non-fiction like this because without a strong theme they can seem to disparate but if the theme is to heavy then the pieces all seem the same. This book seems to walk the thin theme line pretty well.
It's all women who identify as geeks (I wish they hadn't gone with the easy alliteration of geek girls, cos their is already too much of a infantalisation of women in this subculture), writing about their love lives. It's comics and prose about first dates, online romance, coming of age, being queer, marraige etc.
I liked the diversity of story but I still wanted more, I would have liked more indepth discussion of sexism in the scene and more voices from the outskirts of the geek world. Some stuff that wasn't so American centric would have been cool too.
I generally preferred the comics and some of the art is super impressive, but one peice of prose by Gita Jackson stood out for having more depth and an interesting edge and analysis. There are definitely quite a few names I will follow more closely now.
It's all women who identify as geeks (I wish they hadn't gone with the easy alliteration of geek girls, cos their is already too much of a infantalisation of women in this subculture), writing about their love lives. It's comics and prose about first dates, online romance, coming of age, being queer, marraige etc.
I liked the diversity of story but I still wanted more, I would have liked more indepth discussion of sexism in the scene and more voices from the outskirts of the geek world. Some stuff that wasn't so American centric would have been cool too.
I generally preferred the comics and some of the art is super impressive, but one peice of prose by Gita Jackson stood out for having more depth and an interesting edge and analysis. There are definitely quite a few names I will follow more closely now.
tmcphetridge4's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Not at all what I was expecting! Half of me expected a graphic novel (which it sort of is) and the other half expected it to be about what Geek Girls love (which it also sort of is). I absolutely loved some of these essays. They were very inspiring and hopeful and others made me really think about how I view myself. Overall I loved seeing the perspective of all these women (and nb/trans identities too!) and how love has played a roll in their lives.
teanahk's review
3.0
Many of the tales shared in this collection were quite touching and personal.
As much as I expected to love this book, something about it just didn't work for me. I think it's the combination of comics and prose/essays? Somehow it makes the written parts crawl along and the comic bits seem too short.
As much as I expected to love this book, something about it just didn't work for me. I think it's the combination of comics and prose/essays? Somehow it makes the written parts crawl along and the comic bits seem too short.
angiolettoliz's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderful anthology! Such a diverse mixture of writers, experiences, art and outlooks on love, sex and intimacy. Isn’t a genre I usually read so I am thrilled to be this pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed most of the stories and comics. Very relatable and wholesome.