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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
4.5. It gets a little bit repetitive towards the end, but it may be ok if read alternating with other books.
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I somehow had different expectations for what this book was going to be. I thought it would be more of a discussion about geek culture in general and it's relationship to feminism especially regarding recent events such as GamerGate and such. I found that instead it's a collection of many essays, most only 4-6 pages in length, and although they discuss geek culture it's much more focused on the community of sci-fi/fantasy authors and their readers. That's not surprising since Hurley is a sci-fi/fantasy author and is involved in that community the most. There's also a lot of personal stories from Hurley and it felt somewhat autobiographical. It was definitely an engaging read and Hurley's opinions are well laid out and echo closely with mine. I think having my expectations shift sort of hurt my rating and the fact that a lot of what Hurley wrote about I'd heard and read about before. However the writing was still wonderful and if the subject of gender and race in regards to the sci-fi/fantasy book community interests you I would give it a try.
Recommended
This essay collection was excellent and thought-provoking! The tone is very conversational and casual, and at times, it felt too bloggy to me, but the ideas are well worth your time. I learned about Gamergate and how the Hugo Awards work, and I really appreciated the author's perspective on having a full-time marketing job while cranking out sci-fi novels every year. I don't remember where I heard of this book, and I have never read anything else by the author, but I'm really glad I read it.
This essay collection was excellent and thought-provoking! The tone is very conversational and casual, and at times, it felt too bloggy to me, but the ideas are well worth your time. I learned about Gamergate and how the Hugo Awards work, and I really appreciated the author's perspective on having a full-time marketing job while cranking out sci-fi novels every year. I don't remember where I heard of this book, and I have never read anything else by the author, but I'm really glad I read it.
I have complicated feelings about this book. First of all, it provides a perspective of feminism I’ve never even considered before and in that sense, I enjoyed it. Hurley discusses feminism from the geek point of view - the women, who work in male-dominated gaming and sci-fi writing industries and as in many fields, it’s a lonely place for women. She analyzes famous movies and books to present how subtly misogynistic they all are. Reading about my favorite movies with a kind of irrevocable conciousness is both enlightening and sad, and I really enjoyed that part. Later on, the author talks about her own experiences as a gay writer with a chronic illness, who also happened to be fat-shamed and dragged into depression, and how she picked herself up, dusted off and moved on. The personal memoir part weighs heavily in the second hald of the book and I felt confused at times as to what I was reading. Is this a feminist nonfiction, a personal memoir filled with hardships or “we can do this or that if we really want to” kind of peptalk. In that way, the book pushes itself into the boundaries of self-help, too. Do not get your hopes up for strong feminist reasoning and consider it a story of a woman, who has been through stuff.
Interesting collection of essays. Some, like the one asking you to consider what opinion you would have of male characters in action movies if their role stayed exactly the same but they were played by a woman, are stronger than others, but overall, this is a worthwhile read.
Loved this collection of essays. They're angry but hopeful, and familiar for someone like me who spends a lot of her time online in fan spaces. Some of it gets a little repetitive, but it's such an easy read it didn't bother me all that much.
I read this for the "Out of Your Comfort Zone" square on the book bingo, but it kind of turned out to be real in my comfort zone. I read through it pretty quick. I loved Hurley's take-no-crap attitude and wish more people would take her advice about representation and community-membership to heart.