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laurareads87's reviews
510 reviews
The Feminist Killjoy Handbook: The Radical Potential of Getting in the Way by Sara Ahmed
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
The Feminist Killjoy Handbook follows the figure of the feminist killjoy - she who gets in the way of others' comfort, who speaks up to name sexism, who won't just be quiet and go along to get along. Ahmed's work is deeply intersectional & queer, she clearly names transphobia as fundamentally anti-feminist, and her analysis is simultaneously precise and applicable to an array of contexts (personal relationships, institutional contexts, policy-making - she discusses 'scale' early on).
I've read quite a lot of Ahmed's work prior to this, and have an academic background in theory. I did find this book much more 'general audience' oriented than many of her other texts, and likely more approachable; I appreciate the inclusion of a detailed recommended reading list as well as discussion questions. I want to gift this book to a significant number of people in my life.
Content warnings: discussions of sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment, sexual assault, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia
I've read quite a lot of Ahmed's work prior to this, and have an academic background in theory. I did find this book much more 'general audience' oriented than many of her other texts, and likely more approachable; I appreciate the inclusion of a detailed recommended reading list as well as discussion questions. I want to gift this book to a significant number of people in my life.
Content warnings: discussions of sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment, sexual assault, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia
Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Moon of the Turning Leaves picks up over ten years after its predecessor left off; the Whitesky family and a small community group have left their homes and are now living further north. This novel follows a small group, including Evan and his daughter Nangohns, who decide to leave south to the shores of the Great Lakes see what remains of the world and find a new place for the community to live.
This novel reads less ‘horror’ than its predecessor; I may like this one even better than the first. I found myself very invested in the characters’ journey, and feel like this novel has so much to say about resilience and hope amidst despair. I have read others describe at least the beginning as slow, but I didn’t find it to be. I loved Rice’s thorough incorporation of Anishinaabemowin.
This could almost work as a standalone; though it does mention individuals and events from the first book, it does so in ways that wouldn’t be totally baffling to a new reader. That said, I would definitely suggest reading Moon of the Crusted Snow first. Both books are excellent, and it provides valuable context to this one.
Content warnings: death, murder, violence, gun violence, suicide, racism, racial slurs, blood, death of a non-human animal, verbal threats of sexual assault, mention of cannibalism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, Gun violence, and Racism
Moderate: Blood and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual assault and Cannibalism
Red Tarot: A Decolonial Guide to Divinatory Literacy by Christopher Marmolejo
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Red Tarot: A Decolonial Guide to Divinatory Literacy by Christopher Marmolejo is a text that I am grateful for, and one that I am so happy to see out in the world. This is the kind of tarot book that I am so excited to find and that I’ll absolutely keep on my bookshelf. I was thrilled to receive an e-book ARC but bought the paperback copy on the strength of the introduction and first chapter alone and continued my reading from there.
The text is structured numerologically, with chapter zero as an introduction. From there, ‘One’ includes the Magician, the Wheel, and the pages and aces, ‘Two’ includes the High Priestess, Justice, The Hanged One, Judgment, and all the twos, and so on. The Fool appears in the ‘Ten’ chapter with the World.
Far from a standard card-by-card beginner tarot book laying out how to interpret each card in a spread, Red Tarot positions each card as a leaping off point and tarot itself as a text. The author’s reflections on each card are simultaneously personal and theoretical – the text’s analysis is rooted in lived experiential knowledge, intersectional and decolonial theoretical frameworks, and tarot imagery and symbolism. Here, tarot is a tool that readers can engage to “nourish emancipatory knowledge that undergirds all revolutionary praxis” [407-8] and daily draws have the capacity to “[transform] awareness” [411]. This book is unlike any other I’ve read, and I see myself revisiting it often; it has left me with much to ponder on everything from tarot’s epistemological implications to the tarot reading as a site of dialogue and new angles to consider on each and every card.
Of their wide-ranging bibliography, Marmolejo writes that their citation practice is “multifarious and polyvocal,” bringing Indigenous intellectualism and critical pedagogy into conversation with reference to each card [408]. Authors that appear cited in the text include bell hooks, Paolo Friere, José Esteban Muñoz, Toni Morrison, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Gloria Anzaldúa, and many more. I suspect some will critique this book as challenging to read or as ‘overly academic,’ but such criticisms miss the ways that language itself is central to the book’s very purpose and thesis on tarot as critical literacy. Marmolejo describes their book as offering “a visual framework for interpreting the tarot in a manner that perceives, disrupts, and rejects conditioned colonial consciousness” [2] – recognizing language as a site of contestation, the text invites thinking/reading/writing critically and necessitates thoughtful, deliberate, self-reflexive engagement.
Citation in the book is via endnotes; I would suggest putting a bookmark or post-it in the back of the book while reading so that turning back to learn the sources of quotations while reading is easier, particularly for readers unfamiliar with much of the source material.
Many thanks to Christopher Marmolejo, North Atlantic Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC for review.
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Nettle & Bone is a fairytale-like fantasy novel following a young princess on a quest to save her sister from an abusive king.
There were some things I really liked about this. I appreciate a good unlikely ensemble cast, and I particularly liked the dynamic between the dust-witch and the godmother; I also really liked Bonedog and Finder of course. This was my first T. Kingfisher experience and I liked the writing style for the most part – I’d definitely try another of her works on the basis of this one. The world-building was compelling and I would’ve loved to learn more about the kingdoms and the surrounding territories. Without giving anything away, there are some interesting ethical ambiguities to the ending that I can appreciate.
There were also some aspects to this story that really didn’t work for me. The protagonist, and by extension the book itself, skewed YA (which isn’t how it’s marketed); Marra definitely didn’t read like a thirty year old, particularly not given the context. Some of the dialogue felt borderline patronizing (like I was being spoken to as a reader) and the humour really didn’t land for me (it just make the tone feel very inconsistent). Most of all, though, the bits of the book I found most interesting (the magic making Bonedog possible, the Blistered Lands, the dynamics between the Kingdoms) were skimmed over and the bits I found significantly less interesting were foregrounded (particularly the emerging romance which I think would’ve been better just left out). I liked the very beginning few chapters of the book better than the rest.
Content warnings: sexism, intimate partner violence, physical abuse, violence, murder, death
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Death, and Murder
The River Judge by S. L. Huang
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
"The world ought to balance. It ought to, and it never did."
Having absolutely loved The Water Outlaws, I bought this novelette as soon as I saw it; it did not disappoint. This is a dark story of a young woman who realizes her father's "business" is more than hospitality when she finds a body in the storage room of their riverside inn; like the novel does, this story addresses themes of gender & gender roles, power, and familial responsibility.
You do not need to have read The Water Outlaws to read this story at all - it's clearly the same universe, but it doesn't presume any background knowledge of the world-building.
Content warnings: violence, murder, death, blood, sexism, misogyny, classism, and one I'm putting behind spoiler tags:cannibalism
Having absolutely loved The Water Outlaws, I bought this novelette as soon as I saw it; it did not disappoint. This is a dark story of a young woman who realizes her father's "business" is more than hospitality when she finds a body in the storage room of their riverside inn; like the novel does, this story addresses themes of gender & gender roles, power, and familial responsibility.
You do not need to have read The Water Outlaws to read this story at all - it's clearly the same universe, but it doesn't presume any background knowledge of the world-building.
Content warnings: violence, murder, death, blood, sexism, misogyny, classism, and one I'm putting behind spoiler tags:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cannibalism, Classism, Sexism, and Misogyny
Tauhou by Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
3.5, rounding up. Tauhou is beautifully written and evocative, perhaps more a collection of vignettes than a cohesive linear narrative, highly experimental as far as novels go and utterly compelling. Nuttall can do a lot -a lot- with very few words, bringing characters and moods to life in scenes of only a few pages and exploring themes with depth and thoughtfulness. I can't say this novel was quite what I expected from the description, but I would absolutely read more from Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall based on this book.
Content warnings: colonialism, racism, residential schools, child abuse, sexual abuse, rape (mentioned, not on page), suicidal thoughts, suicide, fire injury
Content warnings: colonialism, racism, residential schools, child abuse, sexual abuse, rape (mentioned, not on page), suicidal thoughts, suicide, fire injury
Sweep of Stars by Maurice Broaddus
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Sweep of Stars is truly epic: it spans an alliance of multiple worlds, features many POV characters, and includes a wormhole, secret agents and spies, conspiring, and really well thought out political dynamics. There is a glossary included, but I didn't find I needed it - most of the terms in it are not 'made up' but rather actual phrases/words that were familiar to me, and context makes things clear enough. Broaddus is a great writer, and he accomplishes a lot here with a very ambitious book - it includes first, second, and third person POVs all while reading as fairly linear and clear, and the world-building is fantastic, rich and detailed. I will definitely pick up the sequel.
Content warnings: violence, gun violence, murder, death, torture, racism, war. Nothing particularly graphic or hard to read.
Content warnings: violence, gun violence, murder, death, torture, racism, war. Nothing particularly graphic or hard to read.
Cartomancy in Folk Witchcraft: Playing Cards and Marseille Tarot in Divination, Magic, and Lore by Roger J. Horne
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
<i>Cartomancy in Folk Witchcraft</i> is an introduction to working with playing cards in both divination and folk craft. Horne's method of interpretation involves reading "suit-number convergences," which he likens to alchemy [17]. He draws parallels between playing cards and the Marseille tarot lineage, and makes the case that his techniques for reading the pip cards are also applicable to the Marseille minors; he does include a chapter on patterns in the Marseille majors and also includes reference to the Knights in his discussion of court cards.
I would class this book as intermediate overall. The sections on playing cards read as fairly beginner friendly - I could easily navigate these sections as someone versed in pip tarot decks and basic numerology, but not particularly experienced with playing cards - whereas the section on the tarot majors I think would be most interesting to those already familiar with the major arcana. This is not a book I'd suggest as someone's first tarot book, or first divination book even, but it does feel approachable and for the most part doesn't presume much background knowledge. Horne notes that folk magic emerges "around what is available, what is useful, and what works best" [155] and presents ideas for workings that many could perform using only objects already present in their home. Basic folk magic concepts such as sympathy are explained clearly and concisely, and ethical and ontological questions (ex. the appropriateness of cursing, the possibility of communication with the dead) are addressed quite effectively given the book's short page count.
I really appreciate Horne's overall approach and tone. He presents cartomancy and folk craft as alive and constantly adapting, writing that "as participants in tradition, we are not confined but set free by its wisdom" [204]. He encourages readers to draw on their own lineages and traditions, and advocates for an inclusive approach to reading the cards that dispenses with some historical ideas that presumed and reinforced gender binary and gender stereotypical thinking by, for instance, associating certain cards with certain genders only. I would definitely recommend this book to an intermediate practitioner & look forward to reading more from Horne.
I would class this book as intermediate overall. The sections on playing cards read as fairly beginner friendly - I could easily navigate these sections as someone versed in pip tarot decks and basic numerology, but not particularly experienced with playing cards - whereas the section on the tarot majors I think would be most interesting to those already familiar with the major arcana. This is not a book I'd suggest as someone's first tarot book, or first divination book even, but it does feel approachable and for the most part doesn't presume much background knowledge. Horne notes that folk magic emerges "around what is available, what is useful, and what works best" [155] and presents ideas for workings that many could perform using only objects already present in their home. Basic folk magic concepts such as sympathy are explained clearly and concisely, and ethical and ontological questions (ex. the appropriateness of cursing, the possibility of communication with the dead) are addressed quite effectively given the book's short page count.
I really appreciate Horne's overall approach and tone. He presents cartomancy and folk craft as alive and constantly adapting, writing that "as participants in tradition, we are not confined but set free by its wisdom" [204]. He encourages readers to draw on their own lineages and traditions, and advocates for an inclusive approach to reading the cards that dispenses with some historical ideas that presumed and reinforced gender binary and gender stereotypical thinking by, for instance, associating certain cards with certain genders only. I would definitely recommend this book to an intermediate practitioner & look forward to reading more from Horne.
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
Someone You Can Build a Nest In is ambitious: not only is the character non-human, she’s not even approximately humanoid (unless she chooses to be) but rather a shapeshifting blob that can take objects in from her environment – chair legs, knives, body parts of others – and use them to shape herself. It’s well written and I’d happily read more from John Wiswell, but not everything about this worked for me.
What I liked: the novel includes thoughtful asexual sapphic representation, some well considered conversations about trauma and its impact on relationships, and a mix of graphic gore and violence with humour that somehow inexplicably worked in terms of overall tone. The pacing mostly worked for me. There are some fantastic descriptions and turns of phrase in this book.
What I didn’t love so much: Shesheshen felt way too human as a non-human POV; I understand wanting to make the POV character somehow relatable, but this didn’t quite work for me. The last 20% or so of the book felt like an unnecessary add-on. The insta-romance wasn’t convincing (I’m admittedly not a romance reader, and those who are might like this aspect of the story more than I did).
Thank you to the author, DAW, & NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Content warnings: emotional abuse, physical abuse, gaslighting, child abuse, child death, blood, gore, body horror, injury detail, violence, murder, death, animal cruelty, animal death, grief, abandonment. Don’t be misled by reviews calling this ‘cozy’ – the abusive dynamics in this book are severe and pervasive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Abandonment, Body horror, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood
The Witch's Name: Crafting Identities of Magical Power by Storm Faerywolf
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
A solid book on considerations related to choosing a craft name, Storm Faerywolf's "The Witch's Name" covers a lot of ground in not many pages: reasons for choosing a name, contexts one might use (or not use) such a name (or names!), sources of inspiration (constellations, animals, mythology, deities, legends, etc.), exercises to try to find elements of one's name or see how a particular name feels, and additional considerations like signatures and self-protection. I would describe this, in craft terms, as intermediate; there is definitely the presumption here that the reader is familiar with some magical basics (protective work, grounding and centering, raising power) but no expectation that the reader do these things in any particular way. Inevitably, some parts of the book will be more relevant to any reader than others - for example, I don't work with the 'three part self' but the divination and sigil-crafting sections are highly relevant to my practice. I appreciate the author's mindfulness re: cultural appropriation, pronunciation of languages, and related issues. I would absolutely read more from Faerywolf based on this book, and I know some of these exercises will be very useful to me as I work on crafting a public-facing name for some writing/publishing I hope to do.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cultural appropriation