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annabethtex's reviews
355 reviews
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
5.0
this is the 2022, queer, john green-inspired coming of age story of my teenage dreams
Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
4.0
I honestly struggled to rate this.
The writing was amazing and the author is clearly extremely talented.
It was short but felt drawn out, deliberate. I read it quickly, feverishly, loving it and hating it and feeling constantly overcome with a sense of hopeful dread.
In the end though, I have to rate it highly because my number one goal in reading is to be manipulated into feeling or thinking very strongly about something, which this book clearly did.
The writing was amazing and the author is clearly extremely talented.
It was short but felt drawn out, deliberate. I read it quickly, feverishly, loving it and hating it and feeling constantly overcome with a sense of hopeful dread.
In the end though, I have to rate it highly because my number one goal in reading is to be manipulated into feeling or thinking very strongly about something, which this book clearly did.
All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue
4.0
loved this! the magic, the complexities and messiness of the characters, the queer focus, the irish setting. it was magical and fun and i sped through it.
trigger warnings (and slight spoiler):
homophobia, including depictions of an attack on a lgbtq+ club
racism, xenophobia, and some religious trauma
trigger warnings (and slight spoiler):
homophobia, including depictions of an attack on a lgbtq+ club
racism, xenophobia, and some religious trauma
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
3.0
3.5 -- a good time but not a great one
The writing style wasn't for me, but I loved the characters. It was very much "telling" instead of "showing" and was at times over-descriptive and awkward. I also wasn't a huge fan of the quickly and neatly wrapped up hallmark style ending. But! This is the author's first book, and I'm optimistic that I could really love her future ones if there are improvements with the writing.
The writing style wasn't for me, but I loved the characters. It was very much "telling" instead of "showing" and was at times over-descriptive and awkward. I also wasn't a huge fan of the quickly and neatly wrapped up hallmark style ending. But! This is the author's first book, and I'm optimistic that I could really love her future ones if there are improvements with the writing.
The Heroine's Journey: Woman's Quest for Wholeness by Maureen Murdock
1.0
dnf @ 50%
I went into this knowing that it was originally published in 1990, cautiously optimistic that the new 2020 edition would make lots of changes to the actual text, and expecting to be wary of the white feminism that would surely leak through anyways. Unfortunately, the only difference between this and the 1990 edition is an introduction and a new preface.
There are a lot of good ideas here that resonated with me, but there’s also a lot of privilege and white feminism. Really what the “heroine’s journey” boils down to, as described here, is a journey for middle aged, middle and upper class white women to try to battle their internalized misogyny. And you know, good for them, they should do that. But that should be only one part of the start of their journey as feminists. If anything, this helped me to understand my mom (49) more than helping to understand myself (26). I did enjoy the parts that analyzed popular myths and legends, and if I use any of this info in the future, it will be to analyze women in fiction; especially in older works and myths.
Overall, I’m sorely disappointed the text wasn’t updated to be more inclusive with the new edition. If anyone is looking to read this in 2022, they should only do so as a very limited jumping off point or to look at it as a relic of feminism in the 1990’s.
I went into this knowing that it was originally published in 1990, cautiously optimistic that the new 2020 edition would make lots of changes to the actual text, and expecting to be wary of the white feminism that would surely leak through anyways. Unfortunately, the only difference between this and the 1990 edition is an introduction and a new preface.
There are a lot of good ideas here that resonated with me, but there’s also a lot of privilege and white feminism. Really what the “heroine’s journey” boils down to, as described here, is a journey for middle aged, middle and upper class white women to try to battle their internalized misogyny. And you know, good for them, they should do that. But that should be only one part of the start of their journey as feminists. If anything, this helped me to understand my mom (49) more than helping to understand myself (26). I did enjoy the parts that analyzed popular myths and legends, and if I use any of this info in the future, it will be to analyze women in fiction; especially in older works and myths.
Overall, I’m sorely disappointed the text wasn’t updated to be more inclusive with the new edition. If anyone is looking to read this in 2022, they should only do so as a very limited jumping off point or to look at it as a relic of feminism in the 1990’s.