Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel by Julian K. Jarboe

3 reviews

olive_lol's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

One of the things I like most about this collection is that each story is unique, but they come together to create a full image. The collection tackles many topics, and each feels like it gets the attention it needs to be properly addressed. A few of the stories didn't click with me, but those that did really stuck.

In general, the collection has a vibe of contemplative melancholy, but it still keeps good humor at points. Most stories' perspectives and writing styles are noticably different from the last, which kept the same style from getting stale.

My two favorites have to be Everyone On The Moon is Essential Personnel (as in, the story that shares a name with the collection) and The Android that Designed Itself.

If beautiful prose with some experemental storytelling is your thing, give this a try!
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kenzielireads's review

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dark funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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bluejayreads's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

 I had never heard of Julian K. Jarboe before picking up this book, likely because they are mainly a short fiction writer and the only time I read short stories is when they're collected into books like this. But I think I'm going to have to keep an eye out for new work from them, because these stories are so wise and insightful. 

The main theme across all of these stories is queerness, especially transness, and what it's like to be trans in a world that's not friendly to transness. Only-slightly-less-main themes are neurodivergance and poverty and the experience of being neurodiverse and poor in a world that's not friendly to either. It's very raw and very powerful and very real, capturing much of the nuance of those situations. All of these stories are 100% written by someone who knows what it's like to be trans, neurodiverse, and poor. 

All of these stories are great (although I did think the title story, "Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel," was a little longer than it needed to be), but I want to touch on a few of my favorites. 

  • "Self Care." Raw and full of anger - at capitalism, religion, transphobia, and being poor. Relatable and validating.
  • "The Heavy Things." The sad truth that sometimes even people who should (and said they did) love you unconditionally care more about what they can get from you than you yourself.
  • "Estranged Children of Storybook Houses." The changeling myth made real. For all the children whose parents feel like they are owed someone different than the child they have.
  • "We Did Not Know We Were Giants." I'm still not completely sure of the philosophical or emotional meaning behind this one but I love it. It may be my favorite in the book. 

Saying that these stories are "deep" sounds weird and cheap, but they're full of layers of emotion, philosophy, and wisdom. I highlighted so many quotes from so many of the stories. The stories don't always make a lot of sense to my head - full of tangents and strange turns of phrase, feeling no need to include any "traditional" elements like plot or character arcs - but they felt real and they hit hard. These stories are fantastic. 
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