panickedhonking's reviews
178 reviews

The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This is the most impactful book I have ever read. It felt like an act of cognitive ludonarrative resistance to read it. At parts it felt like it carved me open so I could feel my own tender, soft, flesh, and at others I felt like I was a cup of water poured into the sea. This is a book for imagining community, solidarity, and a better future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Police brutality, Trafficking, Classism

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

adventurous dark inspiring fast-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

A great story, think The Witcher with a bit more Arthurian flair.

The Question of Palestine by Edward W. Said

challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

Eerily prescient despite being written nearly 50 years ago. Even going in with negligible knowledge of the issue much of it was still quite clear and powerful.

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.

The setting was fascinating but the romance was unsettlingly cisnormative. 

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The narration for the audiobook was phenomenal.

Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.5

It's the kind of book I wish all the middle/upper management people in our family would read. Spiritually and communally aligned social justice in the form of interpersonal organization.

Radical Wholeness: The Embodied Present and the Ordinary Grace of Being by Philip Shepherd
Did not finish book. Stopped at 39%.

The author makes a decent outline but pulls on a shallow understanding of a lot of different fields of knowledge to support his point. I get what he's going for, and I can vibe on maybe 60-75%, but it feels like he's looking at his feet and missing so much of what somatic experience can be. It's ironic that he sets up such a dichotomy between abstract and somatics when he spends so much time talking about how the mind and body dichotomy is such a problem. This book is so starved for a queered and cripped reading that I want to scream.

Taproot by Keezy Young

4.0

Cripping Intersex by Celeste E. Orr

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This is a phenomenally well written book at a time when the LGBTQ+ community is absolutely rife with intersexism. We owe it to each other to read this and imagine better futures for all of us.
I also highly recommend reading Alison Kafer's Feminist, Queer, Crip as it's referenced heavily and gives much more foundational insight into Crip theory than is possible in Cripping Intersex.