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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
This is a collection of beautifully told stories of resistance, both individual and collective. This collection also explores how love fuels resistance to oppression. The storytelling and world building are rich, like a dessert you must eat slowly and savor bite by bite. Monae is telling the story of the future she hopes for for all of us, and it’s one where we are not just all accepted, but all valued as well.
The book is more of an anthology and the stories were very convoluted. It was difficult to keep up with what was going on and all of the different characters.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Did Not Finish-2 and a half stories in (can't find the book and mark what page I got to)
So sad I could not get into this collection at all. I know that Janelle Monáe did her "dirty computer" thing and I get where she was going with this. If you pretend it's just a continuation to her songs/album it kind of works. But if you never listened to her songs or watched the movie based on these songs, you are going to be totally lost. Also I thought the stories were not really cohesive as a whole. I think I kept going okay this is symbolism while I was reading. I felt like I was back in high school English class and I was going to be quizzed on what did I think the author meant by this after a while. In the end I found myself getting bored and DNFed it at 90 pages in (yes I bought the hardback...yes I am annoyed at myself). I do feel bad since it appears this was got tons of acclaim. She also came to this year's National Book Festival and pulled a huge crowd.
The Memory Librarian (2 stars)-We follow the so called memory librarian named Seshet. Seshet works for New Dawn and is in charge of deleting and replacing people's memories. Hey, you keep a population under your thumb, you can win right? Well of course there are rebels, and of course Seshet starts to wonder if she is in the right for what she has been doing. I honestly could not get into it. I thought the story was kind of all over the place and I had so many questions about New Dawn.
(2 stars)-Jane from the movie who runs away from New Dawn to stay in a hotel called Pynk (yeah symbolism). Jane's friend Neer is there and of course there is a lot going on with people questioning whether certain women really belong at Pynk. I started thinking about J.K. Rowling and grimacing.
Timebox (?)-I stopped here. I was going eh I am not enjoying this and then someone told me the ending and I went what and then I put this book down.
So sad I could not get into this collection at all. I know that Janelle Monáe did her "dirty computer" thing and I get where she was going with this. If you pretend it's just a continuation to her songs/album it kind of works. But if you never listened to her songs or watched the movie based on these songs, you are going to be totally lost. Also I thought the stories were not really cohesive as a whole. I think I kept going okay this is symbolism while I was reading. I felt like I was back in high school English class and I was going to be quizzed on what did I think the author meant by this after a while. In the end I found myself getting bored and DNFed it at 90 pages in (yes I bought the hardback...yes I am annoyed at myself). I do feel bad since it appears this was got tons of acclaim. She also came to this year's National Book Festival and pulled a huge crowd.
The Memory Librarian (2 stars)-We follow the so called memory librarian named Seshet. Seshet works for New Dawn and is in charge of deleting and replacing people's memories. Hey, you keep a population under your thumb, you can win right? Well of course there are rebels, and of course Seshet starts to wonder if she is in the right for what she has been doing. I honestly could not get into it. I thought the story was kind of all over the place and I had so many questions about New Dawn.
(2 stars)-Jane from the movie who runs away from New Dawn to stay in a hotel called Pynk (yeah symbolism). Jane's friend Neer is there and of course there is a lot going on with people questioning whether certain women really belong at Pynk. I started thinking about J.K. Rowling and grimacing.
Timebox (?)-I stopped here. I was going eh I am not enjoying this and then someone told me the ending and I went what and then I put this book down.
Regrettably DNF. As much as I adore Janelle Monae, her writing does not soar as powerful as her singing. Points for the world building but I feel as if one is not familiar with the Dirty Computer universe already, they may be a bit lost. Good concept, not intriguing enough for me.
A solid 4.5, I really enjoyed the stories in this book. For me the standouts are Timebox Altar(ed), Nevermind and Save Changes.
DNF. The writing was so symbolic it was hard to follow. The first story I really liked but the second was hard to finish. Not for me.
Thank you Janelle! That is all I can say. Nope, I need to say more. I hope black, queer, enby, sci-fi loving people feel seen and love this book. The final story was my absolute favorite of the book. The power of yet…