kayjaydub's reviews
138 reviews

hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life by Evan Stark

informative slow-paced

3.0

It's as if the author did a stream of consciousness brain dump of the insights he's gained from decades of practice and left it at that without any editing. It's frustrating because there are many very good ideas in here that should be shared, but it's incredibly difficult to get through and follow the narrative of the book. Throughout the book, the author references stories that he will tell at the very end of the book, leading to a lot of confusion for the reader. Many sentences are incredibly long (and filled with lists) so by the time I got to the end, I had to go back to the beginning to understand what the author was trying to convey. To his credit, the author reminds his readers over and over again that victims and survivors are complex, resourceful people who continually find ways to resist abuse and control. While the author, I believe, considers himself a feminist, and gives due respect and credence to feminist ideas and scholarship, there were quite a few jarring moments in the book including the author drawing conclusions about the behavior of Black women based solely on racialized stereotypes and describing abuse in ways that perpetuates rape culture. There are good ideas in this book, but unless you're really wanting to take a deep dive into scholarship on coercive control, don't bother with this book. Rachel Louise Snyder's No Visible Bruises covers many of the same ideas, but is a much more well-written, easy-to-read book.

Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo

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challenging informative fast-paced

5.0

Dragon Bike: Fantastical Stories of Bicycling, Feminism, & Dragons by Elly Blue

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay

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challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced