A review by libbyhb
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

2.5

Maybe I'm just not smart enough for this book, lol. I found myself pushing past concepts or sentences I didn't fully understand and just hoping it would work out in the end through a decent chunk of The Argonauts. I also kept thinking, every time a comment of Harry's would make it into the text, that I really just wanted to hear what he had to say. I fully LOVED the section near the end where sections of Maggie's birth experience alternate with passages written by Harry about staying with his mother while she died. I would give 4-5 stars to that section if the rest of the book didn't exist. Some of the writing about Harry's gender journey made me cringe, especially when Maggie would insert Harry's criticisms or challenges to her feelings and she would acknowledge them but then move on, unchanged. I also hated that they chose a Native American name for their son and then ham-fistedly defended the choice with a Native woman giving them an endorsement on it.
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