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linkalipski's reviews
290 reviews
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide
I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder: A Memoir by Sarah Kurchak
informative
reflective
3.75
Odd Girl Out: An Autistic Woman in a Neurotypical World by Laura James
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
How a Ghastly Story Was Brought to Light by a Common or Garden Butcher's Dog by Johann Peter Hebel
4.0
Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence
999: L'histoire des premières jeunes femmes juives déportées à Auschwitz by Heather Dune MacAdam, Heather Dune Macadam
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
I would encourage people to read the original book if you can. I read a french translation and it wasn’t the best translation so, at times, made the reading experience unpleasant. Hence why I put a 4 star.
If you cannot, then read it anyway, it is a must. The author did a great job at recounter the story of all these women. I certainly wept a lot. Their stories must be read.
If you cannot, then read it anyway, it is a must. The author did a great job at recounter the story of all these women. I certainly wept a lot. Their stories must be read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Le Repas des hyènes (Le Repas des hyènes (One-Shot)) by Mélanie Allag, Aurélien Ducoudray
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
A beautiful graphic novel entering the world of folklore tales of Afrika. Loved it!
The Pattern Seekers: A New Theory of Human Invention by Simon Baron-Cohen
informative
1.0
I was on a roller coaster of emotions, mostly because I became more and more aggravated by his biases. The editing work was rather poor: you were promised an explanation later when it was needed to make sense of his point now and half of the book is in the notes at the end of the book. In addition, referencing was poorly done. Some references were missing completely and the author referenced a lot of his own work which is often not really approved in the scientific community (proportionately, it felt a little too much).
The author has a speciesm bias (well his writing expresses it so) whereby humans are better than other animals which informs his theory that.. well.. we are better than animals. Scientifically we know that humans aren't on the 'top of the food chain'. He makes claims without bringing other research. For instance, he claims only humans can appreciate music and animals don't get the music pattern. However, quick google scholar searches and you can find studies on primates understanding musical patterns, other researchers arguing that musical patterns were an early form of communication and that plants can react to music too. If you are anti-speciesm, this book will likely hit a nerve with you. If you are like most people and not quite on the page with speciesm and animal rights and mentality, then read on, you won't notice it anyway.
The author also uses non-scientific terms like 'prove' (nothing is ever proven in science) and his language shows that he and his editing company were unclear as to who was his target audience. At times some scientific terms aren't explained and defined (hinting that the audience is assumed to have advanced psychology sciences knowledge), other times matters are so vulgarised they aren't scientific (to be accessible for the general public). The effect is unpleasant to read and the text feels discombobulated at times.
The worse however has to be the sexism and misogyny. The author has been heavily criticized in the past for his gender bias and the effect it has had on the autism community since women aren't diagnosed properly due to stereotypically male-driven symptomology. Oh dear, he did not redeem himself.
Throughout the book, he praises geniuses men but women are rather absent. The first introduction of a female, he took as an opportunity to share how he believes her stupidity killed her husband. His personal opinion (unfounded of course - other than in his gender bias and misogyny) was simply unnecessary and could (should) have been edited out as the only point he made in that way is that men are better than women. He mentions Greta Thunberg in one sentence and another autistic female briefly and that's almost it. All the other people are amazing genius males who made the world this wonderful place full of inventions. *roll eyes so hard I can see my brain*
For someone who works with autistic people, he hasn't spent that much time getting to know the autistic community it seems. He uses the word "neurodivergent" without explaining the background of the term: an autistic woman coined this term along with the term "neurotypical" to explain the different ways of being. The author doesn't even mention her (*cough cough sexism*) and uses it in his own kind of way. The way he portrays autistic people made me a bit uncomfortable. Honestly, I felt like he was a little ableist (not likely consciously).
He doesn't mention the impact of gender bias in autism and therefore his own theory is still based on those gender biases. His questionnaire (not just the one at the end of the book.. I had found his study prior) is incredibly gender biased! I have too many notes on the matter and getting worked up again..
What about his theory... well.. it's gender-biased. He assumes that you cannot have an if-and-then in empathy and understanding humans but that's literally the job of a therapist to spot communication and emotional patterns in people and make links of if-and-then. He just views the women as empathizers who have no if-and-then and systemizing and the men as high systemizers. His theory is full of holes because he needs to check his biases first. His questionnaire is incredibly vague as well so would leave a lot of room for different or inconsistent answers.
I have so many notes on the book and I was angry most of my reading so I did not enjoy it. I'm sorry he had to write this while he grieved his wife's death and I don't believe he is inherently a mean person but I think he needs to review his personal biases as it's impacting the autistic community the most and not in the best way.
I honestly do not recommend it to the general public. This book should not be an entry point in learning about autism and I believe it could lead to further harm to the female and non-binary autistic community. I would only 'recommend' the book to people who have extensive knowledge of autism research and understanding of gender biases in the field.
The author has a speciesm bias (well his writing expresses it so) whereby humans are better than other animals which informs his theory that.. well.. we are better than animals. Scientifically we know that humans aren't on the 'top of the food chain'. He makes claims without bringing other research. For instance, he claims only humans can appreciate music and animals don't get the music pattern. However, quick google scholar searches and you can find studies on primates understanding musical patterns, other researchers arguing that musical patterns were an early form of communication and that plants can react to music too. If you are anti-speciesm, this book will likely hit a nerve with you. If you are like most people and not quite on the page with speciesm and animal rights and mentality, then read on, you won't notice it anyway.
The author also uses non-scientific terms like 'prove' (nothing is ever proven in science) and his language shows that he and his editing company were unclear as to who was his target audience. At times some scientific terms aren't explained and defined (hinting that the audience is assumed to have advanced psychology sciences knowledge), other times matters are so vulgarised they aren't scientific (to be accessible for the general public). The effect is unpleasant to read and the text feels discombobulated at times.
The worse however has to be the sexism and misogyny. The author has been heavily criticized in the past for his gender bias and the effect it has had on the autism community since women aren't diagnosed properly due to stereotypically male-driven symptomology. Oh dear, he did not redeem himself.
Throughout the book, he praises geniuses men but women are rather absent. The first introduction of a female, he took as an opportunity to share how he believes her stupidity killed her husband. His personal opinion (unfounded of course - other than in his gender bias and misogyny) was simply unnecessary and could (should) have been edited out as the only point he made in that way is that men are better than women. He mentions Greta Thunberg in one sentence and another autistic female briefly and that's almost it. All the other people are amazing genius males who made the world this wonderful place full of inventions. *roll eyes so hard I can see my brain*
For someone who works with autistic people, he hasn't spent that much time getting to know the autistic community it seems. He uses the word "neurodivergent" without explaining the background of the term: an autistic woman coined this term along with the term "neurotypical" to explain the different ways of being. The author doesn't even mention her (*cough cough sexism*) and uses it in his own kind of way. The way he portrays autistic people made me a bit uncomfortable. Honestly, I felt like he was a little ableist (not likely consciously).
He doesn't mention the impact of gender bias in autism and therefore his own theory is still based on those gender biases. His questionnaire (not just the one at the end of the book.. I had found his study prior) is incredibly gender biased! I have too many notes on the matter and getting worked up again..
What about his theory... well.. it's gender-biased. He assumes that you cannot have an if-and-then in empathy and understanding humans but that's literally the job of a therapist to spot communication and emotional patterns in people and make links of if-and-then. He just views the women as empathizers who have no if-and-then and systemizing and the men as high systemizers. His theory is full of holes because he needs to check his biases first. His questionnaire is incredibly vague as well so would leave a lot of room for different or inconsistent answers.
I have so many notes on the book and I was angry most of my reading so I did not enjoy it. I'm sorry he had to write this while he grieved his wife's death and I don't believe he is inherently a mean person but I think he needs to review his personal biases as it's impacting the autistic community the most and not in the best way.
I honestly do not recommend it to the general public. This book should not be an entry point in learning about autism and I believe it could lead to further harm to the female and non-binary autistic community. I would only 'recommend' the book to people who have extensive knowledge of autism research and understanding of gender biases in the field.
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Misogyny, and Sexism