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kiraasha 's review for:
Woodworking
by Emily St. James
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is stunning. An incredible debut fiction novel from an acclaimed writer. I'm near speechless. This book held my heart and I will be carrying these characters with me for a really long time. (While pestering all my friends and family to READ THIS BOOK).
This book is set in small town South Dakota in a very white, Christian community. At first, I was quite nervous about the premise of a high school teacher confiding in her student and developing a friendship because of the obvious power imbalance between the two. St. James navigated that friendship/allyship/teammateship etc with so much care and nuance that I think was incredibly difficult to do. Many points in the book, we acknowledge the messiness of Erica and Abigail's situation and I appreciated this awareness as it allowed the characters (and readers, I'm sure) to learn in really interesting ways. As St. James states in her author's note, this book is about "unlikely friendship and the ways in which women build shadow communities amid oppressive power structures". And, wow, is that true!! I can't even list all the ways that we got to explore these themes from so many different perspectives. This book has a complexity to it that will leave you thinking about it long after you put it down.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention how much I love Abigail. She is a self-proclaimed shithead and one of the realest characters I've ever met. Her voice was so clear and I loved hanging out with her. At times she was mean, stubborn, self-sabotaging, but so was I when I was a teen, lol. Her narration was self-aware, unreliable at times, and incredibly annoyed that she was even in this book, and I couldn't get enough. What a cool kid- teenage me wants to be friends with her desperately.
Read this book if you're part of a bookclub (especially a book club that is full of cishet folks) so that. you can pick up the community work St. James does in the novel and bring it IRL in actionable ways. Obviously, read this book if you're trans, queer, agender etc. It's a love letter in a world where so much hate permeates. Obviously, read this book if you're cisgender. This book is a gift, and St. James has offered so much vulnerability and complexity that reflects so many people in her life. If you are a cis person stumbling on how to best support your trans friends/family/neighbours, this book offers a lot of insight that you can learn from. Read this book if you love women! All the women written and incredibly complex, endearing, prickly, traumatized, complicated, and care for one another in their own ways. I am in awe of St. James' character work, and feel honoured to meet so many amazing women within this book.
If you're a vibe/seasonal reader like me, this book takes place at the start of school (August) and ends around mid-December. There are mentions of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas but none of these holidays take any type of focus. More prominently, this book is set during 2015, meaning we are in the throes of the 2016 election. This setting offers an incredibly effective oppressive presence as we all know what happened in Nov 2015, but what I loved is that the focus was on local politicians instead of the horrific outcome on the federal level. I loved this framing because it reminded me about how much of political work needs to be centred on the local community municipal level if we want larger changes to occur. Reading this in February 2025 where it seems we are in 2016 all over again, except shockingly so, so much worse, was an overall vibe. To be transparent, I am Canadian, and our provincial election is coming up tomorrow where my province will probably re-elect a right-wing conservative. The rural town that I live in will probably re-elect the 'Isaiah Rose' candidate. Living in this world can at times feel really hopeless. HOWEVER, this book offered me a much needed reminder about how we need to focus on community- that existing is a form of resistance. So, in terms of vibes, if you're feeling really down about the state of the world, this book will acknowledge that energy but it will also give examples of how solidarity can be formed in really meaningful and unlikely ways.
In all, this book will probably be my top read for 2025. I will be shouting it's praises from the rooftop forever. READ IT! <3
PS. Emily St. James has written for "Yellowjackets"! The same depth, complexity, and overall badass women making messy choices also lives in "Woodworking" just in a different way. If you're a fan of the show, like me, because you love seeing flawed women navigate messed up circumstance, then you'll love this book. Different vibe, similar heart.
This book is stunning. An incredible debut fiction novel from an acclaimed writer. I'm near speechless. This book held my heart and I will be carrying these characters with me for a really long time. (While pestering all my friends and family to READ THIS BOOK).
This book is set in small town South Dakota in a very white, Christian community. At first, I was quite nervous about the premise of a high school teacher confiding in her student and developing a friendship because of the obvious power imbalance between the two. St. James navigated that friendship/allyship/teammateship etc with so much care and nuance that I think was incredibly difficult to do. Many points in the book, we acknowledge the messiness of Erica and Abigail's situation and I appreciated this awareness as it allowed the characters (and readers, I'm sure) to learn in really interesting ways. As St. James states in her author's note, this book is about "unlikely friendship and the ways in which women build shadow communities amid oppressive power structures". And, wow, is that true!! I can't even list all the ways that we got to explore these themes from so many different perspectives. This book has a complexity to it that will leave you thinking about it long after you put it down.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention how much I love Abigail. She is a self-proclaimed shithead and one of the realest characters I've ever met. Her voice was so clear and I loved hanging out with her. At times she was mean, stubborn, self-sabotaging, but so was I when I was a teen, lol. Her narration was self-aware, unreliable at times, and incredibly annoyed that she was even in this book, and I couldn't get enough. What a cool kid- teenage me wants to be friends with her desperately.
Read this book if you're part of a bookclub (especially a book club that is full of cishet folks) so that. you can pick up the community work St. James does in the novel and bring it IRL in actionable ways. Obviously, read this book if you're trans, queer, agender etc. It's a love letter in a world where so much hate permeates. Obviously, read this book if you're cisgender. This book is a gift, and St. James has offered so much vulnerability and complexity that reflects so many people in her life. If you are a cis person stumbling on how to best support your trans friends/family/neighbours, this book offers a lot of insight that you can learn from. Read this book if you love women! All the women written and incredibly complex, endearing, prickly, traumatized, complicated, and care for one another in their own ways. I am in awe of St. James' character work, and feel honoured to meet so many amazing women within this book.
If you're a vibe/seasonal reader like me, this book takes place at the start of school (August) and ends around mid-December. There are mentions of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas but none of these holidays take any type of focus. More prominently, this book is set during 2015, meaning we are in the throes of the 2016 election. This setting offers an incredibly effective oppressive presence as we all know what happened in Nov 2015, but what I loved is that the focus was on local politicians instead of the horrific outcome on the federal level. I loved this framing because it reminded me about how much of political work needs to be centred on the local community municipal level if we want larger changes to occur. Reading this in February 2025 where it seems we are in 2016 all over again, except shockingly so, so much worse, was an overall vibe. To be transparent, I am Canadian, and our provincial election is coming up tomorrow where my province will probably re-elect a right-wing conservative. The rural town that I live in will probably re-elect the 'Isaiah Rose' candidate. Living in this world can at times feel really hopeless. HOWEVER, this book offered me a much needed reminder about how we need to focus on community- that existing is a form of resistance. So, in terms of vibes, if you're feeling really down about the state of the world, this book will acknowledge that energy but it will also give examples of how solidarity can be formed in really meaningful and unlikely ways.
In all, this book will probably be my top read for 2025. I will be shouting it's praises from the rooftop forever. READ IT! <3
PS. Emily St. James has written for "Yellowjackets"! The same depth, complexity, and overall badass women making messy choices also lives in "Woodworking" just in a different way. If you're a fan of the show, like me, because you love seeing flawed women navigate messed up circumstance, then you'll love this book. Different vibe, similar heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Transphobia