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shamfeldt's review
3.0
Tell me about your internalized ableism without saying “internalized ableism”
hattiereads20476's review
2.0
I found this rather pretentious. The exteeeeeensive and ineffective use of second person, several times for several whole chapters, served not to enable me to put myself in his shoes (since he categorically does not share his emotional experiences) but rather backfired, with each sentence punctuated by a mental “uh, no I do not, uh no that’s not the choice I would make, no that’s now how I would respond, oh my word please just own your actions instead of acting like I would do this too.” Second person to describe actions is just… lazy.
I found it frustrating at first that while the draw to this book is about life with bad eyes (his preferred phrase), most of his struggles are about emotional immaturity, insecurities, failed relationships. In the end, I suppose the other is just like all the rest of us, fumbling through life with whatever tools we have.
Frustrating that this story, which could have been enlightening, was rather a defense of his inability to connect with people, which I suspect is due not to “inability to read nonverbal cues” and rather because of his inability to interact with honesty and vulnerability, a key part of meaningful relationships.
Moreover—- did it bother anyone else that he won’t acknowledge the extent of his blindness to his friends, yet nurses wounds when they don’t willingly intuit his needs and continue to do so indefinitely without any admission from him that he appreciates it or needs it??
He’s very intelligent though and thrived in school despite vision difficulties (aka, blindness). Well done sir… good luck with the rest of your life.
I found it frustrating at first that while the draw to this book is about life with bad eyes (his preferred phrase), most of his struggles are about emotional immaturity, insecurities, failed relationships. In the end, I suppose the other is just like all the rest of us, fumbling through life with whatever tools we have.
Frustrating that this story, which could have been enlightening, was rather a defense of his inability to connect with people, which I suspect is due not to “inability to read nonverbal cues” and rather because of his inability to interact with honesty and vulnerability, a key part of meaningful relationships.
Moreover—- did it bother anyone else that he won’t acknowledge the extent of his blindness to his friends, yet nurses wounds when they don’t willingly intuit his needs and continue to do so indefinitely without any admission from him that he appreciates it or needs it??
He’s very intelligent though and thrived in school despite vision difficulties (aka, blindness). Well done sir… good luck with the rest of your life.
ashleyhubbard's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.5
I’d like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for so generously providing me a digital copy of Blind Man’s Bluff.
All opinions are, of course, my own.
I’m not really sure how I fully feel about this book. It kept my attention and I finished it rather quickly and I found Hill’s story interesting, and cringe-worthy at moments. However, the writing style was distracting and jarring at times.
All opinions are, of course, my own.
I’m not really sure how I fully feel about this book. It kept my attention and I finished it rather quickly and I found Hill’s story interesting, and cringe-worthy at moments. However, the writing style was distracting and jarring at times.
Hill switches back and forth between first and second person often and I’m unsure of the reasoning for doing so but I did find It distracting at times. Also, the transitions were very jarring. We’d skip years (I think?) in just the next paragraph with no warning or explanation. I appreciate a book that that doesn’t include unnecessary information just for the sake of filling more pages but there were times I felt like we could have a little bit smoother transitions.
On the other hand, I appreciated JT’s humor and his perseverance. I also have no idea and I’ll likely never understand what it’s like to be in his position so I applaud him for doing what needed to be done for his own well-being. I do hope he feels more accepted and able to accept his disability and not feel ashamed or like he has to cover it up.
The friends that were great to him (mostly without being asked) were amazing. I grew rather frustrated with the girlfriends and others that. seemed annoyed with him for his vision impairment. I know this is only one side of the story but those were cringe-worthy moments.
Overall, I’d recommend the read if you enjoy memoirs or stories about people “overcoming” things in their life. I liked it quite a bit but I didn’t fall in love with it either. I also really love the cover art concept.
gabnug's review
Well-written, but lost steam, and a lot of the pop culture references went over my head
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