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A review by actualconman
Still Here by Rowan Blanchard
2.0
Yeah, a teenager definitely wrote this.
Rowan's at her best when she's talking about herself, her place in the world around her and her relationships with other people. Her talks of always being friends with older people and feeling like she's growing up too fast may come off as somewhat uppity at first, I think she still recognizes her youth and sees any apparent oldness to her as much more of a detriment than a compliment. Despite many of her poems and journal entries being constantly laced with this tone of desperation and confusion, some of her outlooks on the state of herself and her friends in the present and for the future are refreshingly optimistic. This comes across most on page 142's Survival Is A Loop entry, one that I was surprised to realize was actually written by Rowan. Side note, I didn't realize there was an index at the back of the book, but by that point I could mostly tell what was Rowan and what was anothet author.
She somewhat falters when it comes to talking about anything larger than just herself, though. A particular story from a protest comes off as eye-rollingly misguided in its focus on her feelings in the situation. It brings up themes of white guilt and standing up to bigoted friends, which is something any ally should be thinking about, but it still doesn't come off well. Her LETTER FOR THE LITTLE QUEER GIRL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT is a much better example of Rowan trying to tackle some bigger issues, thankfully once again giving it a tighter focus on just one girl's experiences.
Some favourite quotes:
"Anytime I am in need of a depressing event to freshen up my life, I always have my birthday coming"
"You give so much love that you mistake your own for the love of others"
"What does it mean if you read all this poetry and don't know it's about you"
Rowan's at her best when she's talking about herself, her place in the world around her and her relationships with other people. Her talks of always being friends with older people and feeling like she's growing up too fast may come off as somewhat uppity at first, I think she still recognizes her youth and sees any apparent oldness to her as much more of a detriment than a compliment. Despite many of her poems and journal entries being constantly laced with this tone of desperation and confusion, some of her outlooks on the state of herself and her friends in the present and for the future are refreshingly optimistic. This comes across most on page 142's Survival Is A Loop entry, one that I was surprised to realize was actually written by Rowan. Side note, I didn't realize there was an index at the back of the book, but by that point I could mostly tell what was Rowan and what was anothet author.
She somewhat falters when it comes to talking about anything larger than just herself, though. A particular story from a protest comes off as eye-rollingly misguided in its focus on her feelings in the situation. It brings up themes of white guilt and standing up to bigoted friends, which is something any ally should be thinking about, but it still doesn't come off well. Her LETTER FOR THE LITTLE QUEER GIRL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT is a much better example of Rowan trying to tackle some bigger issues, thankfully once again giving it a tighter focus on just one girl's experiences.
Some favourite quotes:
"Anytime I am in need of a depressing event to freshen up my life, I always have my birthday coming"
"You give so much love that you mistake your own for the love of others"
"What does it mean if you read all this poetry and don't know it's about you"