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A review by tparris2
By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery
3.0
Love the representation and the ideas this book explores.
Nevertheless, I thought the relationships (friendships & romantic) seemed a bit too instant and convenient.
(And none of the CAKE members ever felt fully actualized except Emery.) The writing took a while to draw me in, and in the end I was left somewhat confused about the overall message.
Spoilers: At the end, Torrey talks about battling gentrification by “any means necessary” and helps to orchestrate a protest, using others’ fear as a weapon in the fight. Then in the epilogue, he envisions a world in which he only has to focus on today, and love, and the world isn’t “pressuring me to fight a thing I am helpless to win.”
I don’t think this was meant to sound defeatist or lessening of his previous actions, but sounded strange after emphasizing (at least as I interpreted it) that fighting for the cause is not, in fact, hopeless or “helpless to win.” And the move to, in the epilogue, solely focus on how his world is so much brighter because of Gabe seemed too much like love as a cure all.
IDK, the dynamic between their romantic relationship and the book’s message of battling gentrification just felt disjointed and unbalanced at times. The parts were all there (I loved their love story for the most part), but the parts just didn’t come together in the right way for me.
Nevertheless, I thought the relationships (friendships & romantic) seemed a bit too instant and convenient.
(And none of the CAKE members ever felt fully actualized except Emery.) The writing took a while to draw me in, and in the end I was left somewhat confused about the overall message.
Spoilers: At the end, Torrey talks about battling gentrification by “any means necessary” and helps to orchestrate a protest, using others’ fear as a weapon in the fight. Then in the epilogue, he envisions a world in which he only has to focus on today, and love, and the world isn’t “pressuring me to fight a thing I am helpless to win.”
I don’t think this was meant to sound defeatist or lessening of his previous actions, but sounded strange after emphasizing (at least as I interpreted it) that fighting for the cause is not, in fact, hopeless or “helpless to win.” And the move to, in the epilogue, solely focus on how his world is so much brighter because of Gabe seemed too much like love as a cure all.
IDK, the dynamic between their romantic relationship and the book’s message of battling gentrification just felt disjointed and unbalanced at times. The parts were all there (I loved their love story for the most part), but the parts just didn’t come together in the right way for me.