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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
I love Janelle Monáe's music and how she thinks. I've seen her live shows and how out of this world they can be. Even attended a talk she gave discussing this book. She made it sound exciting. So I can't understand how someone with such a vivid, outrageous, fun, and beautiful imagination could write/co-write such a boring and forgettable book. It took me several months to read this. There were needless descriptions that caused the stories to drag. There were characters that weren't developed; so it was hard to feel anything for them. When it comes to the world of Jane and Dirty Computers, I'll stick to the albums and Dirty Computer film.
This is an overall good read, but the strongest stories were definitely introduced first.
I really liked this.
The first thing that struck me on the very first story was how beautifully poetic it was.
I liked most of the stories: the last one fell a bit flat in comparison to the others but was still fine, and you needed something a bit hopeful at the end.
The characters are convincing, the plots are ok, and the worldbuilding has really benefitted from the album->film->book development.
Lots and lots of content about race and being queer and dissent.
I went back and watched the “Emotion Picture” that this is a spin-off from afterwards but it didn't add much to be honest.
Oh, also, the audiobook narrator for this is well-cast.
The first thing that struck me on the very first story was how beautifully poetic it was.
I liked most of the stories: the last one fell a bit flat in comparison to the others but was still fine, and you needed something a bit hopeful at the end.
The characters are convincing, the plots are ok, and the worldbuilding has really benefitted from the album->film->book development.
Lots and lots of content about race and being queer and dissent.
I went back and watched the “Emotion Picture” that this is a spin-off from afterwards but it didn't add much to be honest.
Oh, also, the audiobook narrator for this is well-cast.
In a future where New Dawn regulates people’s movements, thoughts, and even dreams, there are those who have been labeled as dirty computers that are fighting to be who they want to be, to love as they want to love, and to make art to change the world. These are a few of their stories.
This was an interesting collection of short stories all based in the same world that explore ideas of pushing back against a fascist system. I am not very familiar with the related album and movie that are based in this world, but I enjoyed these stories. They crafted an interesting possibility of the future, and also some intriguing characters fighting hard to be themselves.
This was an interesting collection of short stories all based in the same world that explore ideas of pushing back against a fascist system. I am not very familiar with the related album and movie that are based in this world, but I enjoyed these stories. They crafted an interesting possibility of the future, and also some intriguing characters fighting hard to be themselves.
Faves were Alaya Dawn Johnson's The Memory Library (unsurprising since I adore her writing) and Sheree Renée Thomas' Timebox Altar(ed) (whose hope and dreaming I so needed this week with Roe v. Wade).
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
LOVED THIS.
An interesting world, an engaging set of stories told from different points of view and power, and that last story in the book has me telling everyone about it who will listen to me.
An interesting world, an engaging set of stories told from different points of view and power, and that last story in the book has me telling everyone about it who will listen to me.
I thoroughly enjoyed these stories all set in the same universe, seeing how the various characters live and love under the shadow of a restrictive regime. I know there’s a lot of parallels (and warnings) to be drawn with our modern world and I hope we can all do our part to dream and build a better future for us *all*.
It was super refreshing and enjoyable to have the major characters be queer people of color.
One of the things I enjoy most when reading Afrofuturism, African Futurism, and other genre bending delights that are bursting forth, is the plethora of characters and storylines that don’t fit the expectations and formulas presented to me as defaults through my school literature classes and reading of classic sci-fi.
Context: picked up this book without having any idea that it was connected to music or other media.
It was super refreshing and enjoyable to have the major characters be queer people of color.
One of the things I enjoy most when reading Afrofuturism, African Futurism, and other genre bending delights that are bursting forth, is the plethora of characters and storylines that don’t fit the expectations and formulas presented to me as defaults through my school literature classes and reading of classic sci-fi.
Context: picked up this book without having any idea that it was connected to music or other media.
Though I loved the album Dirty Computer, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But every story was beautiful, haunting - and by the end, I was sad to leave the world and characters.
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I appreciate what the author was trying for here, but none of it really landed for me. I didn't hate this, but I certainly didn't like it very much either. It just felt like it was there; a nothing of a book. None of its stories really made me feel anything, and I doubt that I'll think about it again or remember much about it after a few weeks.
I went into this without any knowledge of the author's other works or the universe that this was based on, so maybe I'd have enjoyed it more if I had more of that context.
I went into this without any knowledge of the author's other works or the universe that this was based on, so maybe I'd have enjoyed it more if I had more of that context.