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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Wonderfully crafted science-fiction. Very Orwellian themes with good social commentary, although it is a little on-the-nose. Each story gives you an exciting glimpse into a broken future that leaves you wanting more.
I really enjoyed the writing as it was very poetic and I thought the audiobook was really lovely. The first two stories were my favorite I think the first one was my favorite overall just because of how well it was written But the second one I really connect to themes on. I will say I was a little lost on some of the other stories however being a little lost I feel does not contract from the experience because of how pretty the writing is. I'd also like to mention that I'm very new to dirty computer and I didn't have that much trouble understanding was going on which I appreciated.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Solid, if a little disjointed — really excellent themes and ideas at the intersection of afrofuturism and queer/trans/nb/Black liberation, though some stories were ofc stronger and better developed than others, as is often the case with a collection like this!
I loved this Black Queer dystopian book. It was told in short stories but all in the same world and timeline, striving for equity for the oppressed.
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2022: Read an anthology featuring diverse voices.
This is a tough one to rate because for me the stories vary in quality--some were overly flippant; some bogged down the reader with detail--but it's an incredibly strong collection overall. Janelle Monáe and her co-authors do a great job of not only incorporating queer Afrofuturist elements in their sci-fi stories, but also tying them in with Monáe's album and short film Dirty Computer. My favorite story was probably the titular one, which also happens to be the longest in the collection, written with Alaya Dawn Johnson.
Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2022: Read an anthology featuring diverse voices.
This is a tough one to rate because for me the stories vary in quality--some were overly flippant; some bogged down the reader with detail--but it's an incredibly strong collection overall. Janelle Monáe and her co-authors do a great job of not only incorporating queer Afrofuturist elements in their sci-fi stories, but also tying them in with Monáe's album and short film Dirty Computer. My favorite story was probably the titular one, which also happens to be the longest in the collection, written with Alaya Dawn Johnson.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I finished this collection of short stories the day after having the amazing pleasure of seeing authors Janelle Monáe, Alaya Dawn Johnson, and Yohanca Delgado speak about the book and its dystopian, afro-futurist world. The stories extend the world Monáe created with her DIRTY COMPUTER album and 'emotion picture', and in that expansion, the hope and love grows more and more. The intentional centering of Black, queer, nonbinary, and trans characters is valuable and so necessary. I appreciated the varied perspectives, some unfamiliar and others deeply relatable. Speculative fiction isn't a genre I have read much of, yet this reading experience was undeniably transformative for me.