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carleesi's reviews
755 reviews
A Proposal They Can't Refuse by Natalie Caña
3.5
A fun and enjoyable romance. It was nice to read a romance that’s not chock full of bigoted garbage.
I didn’t love the infantilisation of Abuelo and Granda at the beginning. And the conflict was a bit too much.It felt excessive that her whole family and her best friend cut her off. And then they magically stopped being toxic a few days later and faced up to everything they’d done wrong? It was a bit much. Also, why didn’t we get a bestie reunion at the end???
I didn’t love the infantilisation of Abuelo and Granda at the beginning. And the conflict was a bit too much.
The Boy in the Dress by Jonathan Butler
4.75
What an incredible book! Johnathon’s weaving of his own history with that of his murdered relative makes for a very engaging, often gut wrenching story.
I do wish he’d given a bit more of a content warning before some of the more gruesome aspects of the crimes he describes.
The importance of queer history can never be understated and stories like those in this book help reinforce how important it is that we keep fighting today.
I do wish he’d given a bit more of a content warning before some of the more gruesome aspects of the crimes he describes.
The importance of queer history can never be understated and stories like those in this book help reinforce how important it is that we keep fighting today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Murder
Moderate: Suicide
Can I Steal You for a Second? by Jodi McAlister
2.75
Heartbroken that I didn’t love this more. It was really angsty and repetitive and I was hardly invested in the story but I pushed through cause bisexual wlw.
The first book seemed more fun and like the very silly setting was more of a lighthearted aspect of the story than this one.
The first book seemed more fun and like the very silly setting was more of a lighthearted aspect of the story than this one.
The Sister by Sung-Yoon Lee
3.0
Learnt some interesting things but this book wasn’t really about Kim Yo Jong. The first half of the book would mention her in the very last sentence of the chapter and then move on to a different topic. It was a book about North Korea.
The chronology was really confusing, and there were so many people who were introduced to try and remember for only one or two events, it was quite hard for me to follow at times.
The chronology was really confusing, and there were so many people who were introduced to try and remember for only one or two events, it was quite hard for me to follow at times.
Detective Beans: And the Case of the Missing Hat by Li Chen
5.0
This book is magnificent. The art is so expressive and fun and cute and the story is perfectly silly. I love detective beans.
Growing Up Torres Strait Islander in Australia by Samantha Faulkner
3.75
The authors in this book paint a beautiful picture of the Torres Strait Islands, culture, languages and people. I came to this book wanting to understand more about Torres Strait cultures and peoples and I feel like I got a good introduction. I’ll be looking up the authors to keep reading more.
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Did not finish book. Stopped at 11%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 11%.
I really wanted to get into this book but physics just goes so far over my head, I can’t concentrate on it when I can’t grasp the basic theories. I’d like to try this book again one day when I have more capacity.
Here for the Right Reasons by Jodi McAlister
3.5
The first half of this book was very fun. Such a silly setting and it was constructed really well.
The second half kinda lost me. The repetitive angst about the same thing, the slow crawl toward the end. I also just didn’t care about Dylan. He felt a bit hollow as a character. I think the strength of the setting meant that there wasn’t the space to really construct his character.
I love the representation even if it felt tokenistic much of the time.
I’m definitely going to be reading the next one in the series because I absolutely devoured this.
The second half kinda lost me. The repetitive angst about the same thing, the slow crawl toward the end. I also just didn’t care about Dylan. He felt a bit hollow as a character. I think the strength of the setting meant that there wasn’t the space to really construct his character.
I love the representation even if it felt tokenistic much of the time.
I’m definitely going to be reading the next one in the series because I absolutely devoured this.
Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke
5.0
What a great book! I chose this one on a whim and cause butts and it ended up being so bloody good.
I tend to go into books like this expecting a fairly shallow analysis but it went far beyond what I even could have hoped for. Great nuanced discussions of gender, race, fatness, diet culture, history and always including voices of people with the lived experience of that particular part of the book.
All butts are great, especially this one.
I tend to go into books like this expecting a fairly shallow analysis but it went far beyond what I even could have hoped for. Great nuanced discussions of gender, race, fatness, diet culture, history and always including voices of people with the lived experience of that particular part of the book.
All butts are great, especially this one.
Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum by Jennifer Cook O'Toole
3.75
I enjoyed listening to Jennifer’s story, it’s always powerful for me to fill my life with different experiences of neurodivergence (because aren’t they all sooooo different?)
It’s interesting seeing the generational differences between my experiences and Jennifer’s, as well as having two parents who raised me so gently (before gentle parenting even existed) that the gaslighting side of social experiences of neurodivergence are much less prominent for me. That’s not to say socialising has been all roses and puppies for me, but I still trust instincts and present events to others when they don’t feel right to me and I can’t identify why. It’s hard to hear how much more difficult it’s been for Jennifer after being made to doubt those instincts for so long.
It’s interesting seeing the generational differences between my experiences and Jennifer’s, as well as having two parents who raised me so gently (before gentle parenting even existed) that the gaslighting side of social experiences of neurodivergence are much less prominent for me. That’s not to say socialising has been all roses and puppies for me, but I still trust instincts and present events to others when they don’t feel right to me and I can’t identify why. It’s hard to hear how much more difficult it’s been for Jennifer after being made to doubt those instincts for so long.
I think the book would have benefited a lot from consulting with some fat activists when discussing ED & weight loss (eg, never mention actual weight! Don’t say how many pounds you lost or what weight you were. This can give people “goals” and is really dangerous. Just saying “severely underweight” would be enough).
I must admit it’s hard to read Jennifer talking about the difficulties involved in being societally perceived as “hot” because it often feels like she ignores so many of the benefits of pretty privilege. This could be the mind blindness she often talks about and I’m in no way insinuating she’s a bad person or that she’s lying about the difficulties she’s face - I’m very sure being attractive adds a layer to the autism experience that I haven’t encountered. As a fat autistic woman it just felt a bit isolating and diminishing. Obviously the issue is sexism and diet culture in general, but it often felt like Jennifer drew the line between sexism and being hot and autism and stopped there.
The one case where this is particularly egregious is when Jennifer compares her plight as a pretty white woman to that of Sojourner Truth. I get the message behind what she was saying but that felt like a problematic way to make that point.