Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies: A Lyric Essay by Julian Aguon

7 reviews

lucyatoz's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies by Julian Aguon, who is Chamorro, an Indigenous human rights lawyer, who founded his own law firm, Blue Ocean Law, and is a writer from Guam. 

This compact book of 112 pages has commencement speeches, short stories about his life and those of his family amidst poetry and essays. I appreciated the varied writing styles which spoke truth to issues affecting his island nation, that were presented with conviction and clarity, to not turn away from environmental and issues of justice that impact so many in Guam and the wider Pacific Islands region, but to educate and motivate others across the world. 

I borrowed a copy of this book from Taunton Library and listened to it on BorrowBox. I read this for prompt 46, featuring Indigenous culture, for the 52 Book Club Reading Challenge 2024. 

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation

Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Dementia, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Bullying

Minor: Cursing

bexy's review

reflective slow-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and War

Minor: Suicide

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Incest, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Grief, Sexual violence, Ableism, Rape, Death, Genocide, Cannibalism, Bullying, and Confinement

Moderate: Cannibalism, Child death, Animal death, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Pregnancy

Minor: War and Chronic illness

sicilyjoy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: War, Suicide, and Colonisation

clstrifes's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

As a native Hawaiian I appreciate the mentions of the struggles that happen here and my heart goes out to the people of Guam and all native peoples in their own counties suffering from colonization. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Trafficking, Torture, Colonisation, Cancer, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexism, Cannibalism, and Misogyny

megansoetaert's review against another edition

emotional informative fast-paced

4.0

really appreciated this work and being able to learn more about guam from chamorro voices. Aguon weaves the personal with the political, economic, and colonial effortlessly- because those things can never really be separate. learning about the american imperial project in Guam specifically is sickening, but something everyone (especially those of us living in the US) should learn about. 

only giving less than 4.75/5 stars for some of the more repetitive stories (we get it, the alchemist) & some feelings of distaste lol. also didn’t love the audiobook narrator… oops

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, and Death

counterfeitnickel's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

5.0

An amazing, genre-defying, illuminating collection.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Colonisation, and Racism