gabsalott13's reviews
403 reviews

Love Beyond Body, Space & Time by Hope Nicholson

adventurous mysterious reflective

3.25

Not exactly my style, but I didn’t hate it! Not details after my buddy read convo. 

Red Lip Theology: For Church Girls Who've Considered Tithing to the Beauty Supply Store When Sunday Morning Isn't Enough by Candice Marie Benbow

2.5

Not memorable, but certainly not terrible. I think my main challenge was I feel like the book doesn’t offer many new insights for people who are already following the author on Twitter. I imagine this is a challenge for a lot of influencer authors—how to not let the threads tell it all.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

Here is yet another book that proves that Akwaeke Emezi and their oh-so-beautiful, oh-so-troubled autobiographical characters are morally bankrupt.* I'm constantly surprised by how many people review books based on how much they like the concept or how much they are attracted to the author, while ignoring the ACTUAL BOOK CONTENT. I have been confused about this for a while because while Akwaeke Emezi's clout continues to grow with every new publication, their craft continues to dwindle. 

 

I want to start here: Justice for Pre-Chapter-17-Nasir. To be clear, I mean the version of Nasir who was a real human character, not the one-dimensional incel monster Akwaeke Emezi turns him into by the end. Because that person makes no sense…his transformation is nonsensical and literally only occurs so that Emezi can make it seem like Feyi and Alim are just sTaR cRoSsED lOvERs and not arch-villains. But seriously, the way Nasir and Lorraine and all the nameless "haters" of this alleged love story are painted as the villains in this book…it's ridiculous. This only happens because the author ignores the INITIAL VIOLENCE that begins with Feyi and Alim’s actions…and THAT only happens because the author is subconsciously trying to justify their own reprehensible romantic and sexual actions. 

 

I literally don't even know how to review this ethical injury of a book. It was great and then I was literally groaning in frustration by the end. Usually when books make me feel a lot of emotions, that’s positive. But by the end of this book I literally feel like I did when I had my root canal. So how do I come up with a star rating for this terrible, visceral reading experience? I don’t know. 

 

Because I'm churchy, I'm going to run this root canal metaphor into the ground for a minute. So go with me: There is so much sexual tension in this book that feels enjoyably overindulgent, like all all-you-can-eat Swedish Fish in a floss-free world. But the scene where the villainous couple moves from the kitchen to Alim's bedroom literally felt like developing a cavity, because that was the precise moment all the aesthetics and vibes of the sugar rush turned into rot. By the time Feyi and Alim are making unabashed googly eyes at each other, and they start talking about HOW HIS CHILD’S HAPPINESS AND SANITY PALES IN COMPARISON TO THEIR ROMANTIC DESIRES, there was nothing sweet or enjoyable in this book. From that point on, everything Akwaeke Emezi does to this story feels like dental surgery. The author literally sucked all of the enjoyment right out of this story and made us writhe in discomfort for 60-ish more pages (because of course, with a book this bad, you got to see it through.) 

 

Okay so back to summarizing the story itself: Alim is a raggedy old man dating a girl the age of his kids. And Feyi…I don’t even know where to begin. This book is an Am I The Asshole post written in MFA format, and just like on Reddit, I can see right through the bullshit! I cannot BELIEVE Akwaeke Emezi sat down and tried to make us believe that Alim was wise and caring, or that Lorraine and Nasir were wrong!!!!! I need them, and anyone else who supports this book, to return to that AITA metapost** about how our online ethics are moving towards a value system that frequently doesn't align with the rest of the world. And yes, before you say anything, these ethics extend to novels written by chronically online authors like Akwaeke Emezi. Because the people in and behind this book operate EXACTLY like the most egregious Reddit YTAs. Meaning, their minds have been so warped by 1) individualist notions of self-care and 2) elite capture of identity politics (read Olufemi Taiwo's stuff on this) that they fail to understand that while you can do whatever you want in your life, people WILL have feelings and terrible reactions to what you put them through. And people having terrible reactions isn't them being misogynist/whatever kind of bigot you want to throw out as a "gotcha" card. Their terrible reactions are because YOU STARTED THE TERRIBLE ACTIONS. 

 

While I felt that Emezi's political analysis in Bitter was disappointingly basic, their politics in this book are just plain awful. Like the fact that THEY TURNED THE CLEARLY BLACK AND WHITE ISSUE OF NOT FUCKING YOUR SON’S CRUSH IN THE VERY HOUSE YOUR SON COULD RETURN TO ANYDAY into platitudes about resisting moral binaries?!?!?! This is precisely why we need to bring back shame, and stop confusing feminism (or things like relationship anarchy) with a carte-blanche excuse for piss poor sexual behavior. This is how I know people aren't reading the original texts!!! Cause this is nowhere near the politics they should've gathered from them. Instead, Emezi (and people like them!) have the half-baked politics of your average Reddit menace. 

 

For Exhibit A of the Reddit-monster-morality, take the ridiculous “you don’t own me” lecture Feyi gives to Nasir. That is NOT the issue here, and I resent the bob and weave they tried to pull. The actual issue is the villainous couple literally stating that Nasir's feelings are TRIVIAL to their plans. They don’t care about their friend/son, if that care would require them to sacrifice even an inch of their impulsivity. For instance: they could’ve just waited a few months, given Nasir a chance to move on from his crush, and that would’ve helped SO MUCH. But they don't actually want to avoid hurting him, they only care about how his hurt inconveniences them. They only care because Nasir's feelings interrupt Feyi’s opulent, kinky summer vacation and Alim’s perception of himself as a good father. All that needed to happen was the villainous couple wait until THEY WEREN'T ON THE TRIP THE SON PLANNED to act on their lust. And that was only too much to ask because they are terrible, terrible people. 

 

Exhibit B of the Reddit-monster-morality is the call from Milan…which made no sense except as a lazy justification of the author’s nonsensical idea that Alim and Feyi are morally sound characters. (It's the equivalent of when the AITA OP says "I talked about my terrible actions with my equally terrible friend and they said I'm right.") Milan and Feyi say that Nasir has had an easy life…are we not ignoring that his MOTHER died and that is the VERY SAME LOSS that allegedly makes it okay for Alim to do what he did?!?!?!? I know Akwaeke Emezi cannot truly be this dense, so it must be that they are just this selfish. It must be that their desire to justify a "fictional" situation that's very similar to something they did in real life is obscuring their common sense about good storytelling. Like, I really want to tell them to just BE selfish and immoral. Because this ridiculous bending over backwards to seem like a good person when they and their characters aren't is infuriating, and the book quality is suffering because of it. 

 

In summary, I cannot believe how despicable these people in the villainous couple are and the fact that they are our POV characters!!!! I detest Akwaeke Emezi for putting me in their mindset and trying to make their bastardized ethics seem like something I should root for or agree with. I feel like my soul needs a shower after reading this, and I hate each and every one of you that are recommending it to people.  

 

*For more context on how beauty and moral bankruptcy, please see this thread from one of my favorite Twitter users: https://twitter.com/obaa_boni/status/1394131782736429060 

**I don't know why I can't link things anymore, but here's the AITA post about online values systems: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/d6xoro/meta_this_sub_is_moving_towards_a_value_system/ 

***Finally, here is my meme for this book review (self-produced!): https://www.dropbox.com/s/crth3998xhh9xzf/you%20made%20a%20fool%20of%20death%20with%20your%20beauty_review%20meme.MOV?dl=0 

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I didn’t hate the pacing, I just wished there was a way to tease some of the reveal characters a bit earlier on. The cold cut to explaining the secret family members was a but clunky for me, but otherwise this was really easy to get through and hard to put down once things start rolling.

Against Equality: Queer Revolution, Not Mere Inclusion by Ryan Conrad

challenging informative reflective

3.5

I learned a lot and felt many of the arguments, despite being focused on  dated policies, were still relevant for understanding some of the ideological traps that continue to be deployed by “faux movements.” In the case of this book, the faux movements are of elite gay people who are promoting  assimilation-based policy as well as carceral feminism. But, I think it would be just as useful for debunking some of the faux movements I encounter as a planner, such as the YIMBYs (more about this when I can hyperlink.) 

Regrettably, I really struggled with the many times I felt various essayists in this collection downplayed very serious topics or genuine concerns to make their points.  

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Fantastic, I would definitely recommend especially in our current times. My brain is too scattered for a clear review, but here are some notes:

1. Shows really well how the issue is more than individual people doing the right/wrong thing…every choice Civil makes is a challenge because of the structure/funding/pre-set outcomes of her workplace 
2. Concern about who is responsible is driving these people crazy—when does the systemic violence align with their own complicitness as the hands and feet of the state? and which government interventions you can ultimately trust as “good.” 
3. Also thought this was a really clean look at a certain segment of Montgomery (Centennial Hill)
4. This is so hard—the layers of distrust. Williams of Civil. Civil and her neighbors of Lou Feldman. Lou Feldman of Mrs. Seager, and so on and so forth.
5. Talking also about the layers of coercion…of the families and of the young Nurse’s by their superiors/govt departments. This leaves the latter group to be “in their lives making decisions that weren’t mine too make.”
6. Most useful part of this: “I had never known that good intentions could be just as destructive as bad ones.” (254) so many people are so stuck in their guilt over being a “bad person” they can’t see that “good people” also do lots of harm. 
7. This book is also about the pain of magnifying glasses: what we can ignore in our family systems, industry/workplace/sector systems, and who that causes pain for. Also, the secondhand shame and pain of that exposure for people who were just going along to get along, often with many good intentions. 
8. only giving this under 5 stars because the ending fell a bit flat: peace isn’t made in a series of conversations; words are usually never enough to fully rid the experiences of guilt. This isn’t just a powerful story to share with your daughter as “her legacy”, it’s an unresolved issue in our world IDK. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma

Say Jesus and Come to Me by Ann Allen Shockley

hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

This would’ve been a really important book in its time! I found Myrtle’s overall ambitions and her specific march scheme to be grating, and I was hoping for more smut LOL.

Wouldn’t recommend over other lesbian fiction, but I also wouldn’t go as for to say you shouldn’t read it if you want to!

The White Boy Shuffle by Paul Beatty

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

This is not my sort of humor, and unfortunately in this book, Beatty’s satirical humor is inescapable. While I was wading through the mess, I found it difficult to stay engaged with the plot points. 

Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin

adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I think the book could’ve stopped with the wedding or coronation of Aegon III. His regency and the drama with Lys and the Oakenfist just couldn’t compare to the Dance of the Dragons. 

Besides the slight lag in the last 100 pages, overall this was great and has me so excited to see House of the Dragon!!

I am also looking forward to Fire and Blood volume 2, so I can learn more about the Blackfyre Rebellion and the lead-up to the Mad King.

Black. Queer. Southern. Women.: An Oral History by E. Patrick Johnson

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

3.25

This was a behemoth of a book, and by the end I think it got repetitive. I think the editor could have been more diligent in his clarifications of some stream of consciousness passages, and allowed other characters more room for less choppy reflections.

But, there are definitely some insightful components and interesting stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Rape