jainabee's reviews
498 reviews

Polly: Sex Culture Revolutionary by Polly Whittaker

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

4.75

I couldn't put this delightful and fascinating book down. Beautifully written and impressively edited to shine like a latex catsuit. I enjoyed and appreciated the three different Polly POVs weaving their stories together— the Maiden Mother Crone arc of her revolutionary evolution from her unusual family of origin to her even more bizarre Kinky Salon family and then at the edge of her future self, sending encouragement to her younger selves. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use and Medical content

Minor: Cultural appropriation

Arbitrary Stupid Goal by Tamara Shopsin

adventurous funny inspiring fast-paced

4.75

A unique tribute to a unique family and fills me with nostalgia for a NYC I never knew. Crossword puzzle included! Other reviews have had stong opinions about the layout and formatting, and I just want to mention that Tamara is a professional graphic designer and I think this book looks EXACTLY the way she meant it to. As oddball as her whole family! (Pretend it's visual poetry. Because it is!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and War

Moderate: Sexual content, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Terminal illness

Minor: Pedophilia, Racism, and Violence

This is classic Greenwich Village (1960s-1990s), with all the wild and woolly characters, culture clashes, foul language and NYC trimmings that you could imagine. It is told with so much love and reverence. There is a chapter about the author and her husband visiting the site of a WWII Nazi compound.

We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan by Lou Sullivan

challenging inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

What a gift to the world, my heart is bursting with so many feelings. Phenomenal. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Incest, Outing, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Biphobia and Cursing

These are the diaries of a queer white person who lived through the 60's, 70's and 80's, and the language and attitudes are of the time. The editors have done a great job to not bowdlerize the life of a complex person facing the traumatic experience of trying to live authentically in the face of so much oppression and ignorance. Not for the squeamish, and full of rich insights and wisdom for those who can handle it.

The Handmaid's Tale (Graphic Novel) by Margaret Atwood

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This graphic adaptation is visually beautiful and conveys the dystopian tone and social complexities of the story in a way that enhanced my appreciation for Atwood's novel. (I haven't seen the TV series) There is enough discretion in the visual details that much is left to the reader's imagination, yet the horror of the story's reality is not diminished. This is dark, depressing stuff, especially since the fiction is not far enough away from the facts.

There's no happy ending

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, War, Grief, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Racism, Ableism, Abortion, and Infidelity

This is a dystopian classic; enter at own risk.

Kiss my gay ass by Tom Ammiano

funny informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

Such a fun reflection of times that were not always very fun—legalized homophobia, war in Vietnam, activism for better public education, the rise and assassination of Harvey Milk, the AIDS crisis, California political battles of The Gubernator era— I learned a lot about my adopted home town's history and have a deeper appreciation for this hilarious and heartfelt fellow.

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement and Religious bigotry

Minor: Grief and Death of parent

Kisses for Jet by Joris Bas Backer

hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The story conveys the tricky complexity of adolescent social dynamics and self-discovery in a way that constantly defied my expectations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Bullying, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Outing

Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Sexism, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Minor: Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual harassment

The Third Person by Emma Grove

emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

5.0

It was impossible for me to put this book down, even though it was very uncomfortable to read. Emma manages to convey nuanced emotions and the wordless experience of dissociation into the lines of her drawings. Maybe it's her animation background that adds to the fast-paced feeling of a flip book?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Dysphoria, and Bullying

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Forced institutionalization

Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation by Hannah Gadsby

challenging funny inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Like all things Hannah Gadsby, this is not at all a typical memoir. I like how she weaves the history of the gay liberation movement in Australia with her own story. And always the surprising twists where she suddenly draws together a bunch of images that I thought were random or unrelated. I love how her brain works!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Lesbophobia, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Classism, Drug use, Outing, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Transphobia, Cancer, Gaslighting, and Genocide

Permanent Damage: Memoirs of an Outrageous Girl by Mercy Fontenot

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

5.0

Hilarious, harrowing and rigorously honest. Epicenter reporting from many of the most exciting music scenes of the past 55 years. Not for the faint of heart or stomach. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Vomit, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Sexism, Racism, Stalking, and Alcoholism

Um, Miss Mercy was a shameless and unapologetic hardcore character at the center of many music scenes from the 60s until her death in the 21st Century. Read at own risk.