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A review by sucreslibrary
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler
3.0
this rating feels a little harsh since there are aspects (and one particular essay) of this that I really liked. however, I feel like overall the essays were disjointed and badly put together.
the science anecdotes didn't mesh well with the memoir portions, making some of them quite jarring to read. because they weren't well-integrated, I found myself pulled out of the flow of the essays. I'd be really into one portion, then it would switch to the other section and I would be taken out of the reading completely.
the structures of the essays are virtually the same (science anecdote, memoir anecdote, science anecdote, memoir anecdote, repeat until the end) which made several of them quite tedious to get through. the connections between the pop science and the authors personal story felt either tenuous or ham-fisted. nothing felt organic in its presentation, more like the author was forcing everything to fit a specific mold even if the essay suffered for it (quite ironic, given the prominent themes were about escaping binaries and breaking out of molds).
however, I really adored "morphing like a cuttlefish" (even if the pop science additions felt a little unnecessary). the way the author's relationship is discussed, the terms used, as well as their discussion of dysphoria + how their strap-on factors into how they view their body was some of the most engaging stuff.
there's other good bits in there, mostly in "my grandmother and the sturgeon". I also liked the closing paragraphs of "if you flush a goldfish".
I wish this had been more of a win for me, and think I could like more of the authors work in the future if the essays were tightened up and not as forced to fit a specific theme.
the science anecdotes didn't mesh well with the memoir portions, making some of them quite jarring to read. because they weren't well-integrated, I found myself pulled out of the flow of the essays. I'd be really into one portion, then it would switch to the other section and I would be taken out of the reading completely.
the structures of the essays are virtually the same (science anecdote, memoir anecdote, science anecdote, memoir anecdote, repeat until the end) which made several of them quite tedious to get through. the connections between the pop science and the authors personal story felt either tenuous or ham-fisted. nothing felt organic in its presentation, more like the author was forcing everything to fit a specific mold even if the essay suffered for it (quite ironic, given the prominent themes were about escaping binaries and breaking out of molds).
however, I really adored "morphing like a cuttlefish" (even if the pop science additions felt a little unnecessary). the way the author's relationship is discussed, the terms used, as well as their discussion of dysphoria + how their strap-on factors into how they view their body was some of the most engaging stuff.
there's other good bits in there, mostly in "my grandmother and the sturgeon". I also liked the closing paragraphs of "if you flush a goldfish".
I wish this had been more of a win for me, and think I could like more of the authors work in the future if the essays were tightened up and not as forced to fit a specific theme.