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punkhunk's reviews
17 reviews
Even the River Starts Small: A Collection of Stories from the Movement to Stop Line 3 by Line 3 Storytelling Anthology Team
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
5.0
holy shit. this book is fucking incredible.
if you have been part of a suppressed movement, or any major campaign against the state or some large authority, please read this.
please witness the atrocities at the hands of the state. and imagine the world where the folks whose stories are here, are celebrating the end to resource extraction.
this book is hope, it is weary, it is full of people and places who are still struggling to know peace. and yet, they find liberation. they find each other. they find love. so much love.
my heart and my spirit are with all water protectors. i love you.
if you have been part of a suppressed movement, or any major campaign against the state or some large authority, please read this.
please witness the atrocities at the hands of the state. and imagine the world where the folks whose stories are here, are celebrating the end to resource extraction.
this book is hope, it is weary, it is full of people and places who are still struggling to know peace. and yet, they find liberation. they find each other. they find love. so much love.
my heart and my spirit are with all water protectors. i love you.
The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Wow. Heart wrenching, uplifting graphic novel about the struggle to keep hope at the darkest of times.
Davis strikes a chord on many fronts, including how the most pressing issues are almost never covered in mainstream news, people have full, complicated lives and point of views, and how leftist groups are attacked by the state despite their actions towards a better future for all.
I really enjoyed this and read it in one sitting, in about an hour. I'm still processing it, and I highly recommend it.
Davis strikes a chord on many fronts, including how the most pressing issues are almost never covered in mainstream news, people have full, complicated lives and point of views, and how leftist groups are attacked by the state despite their actions towards a better future for all.
I really enjoyed this and read it in one sitting, in about an hour. I'm still processing it, and I highly recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Police brutality, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Sexism, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, and Deportation
Minor: Antisemitism
Ambrosia: Trans Masc & Non Binary Erotic Comics Anthology by Jade Sarson, Tab A. Kimpton
emotional
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
I adore this anthology. A wide range of artistic style, narratives, characters, and ways to enjoy eroticism (and romance, im not here for that really though).
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys erotic comics and transmasc representation. All of the artists clearly love the characters and pieces they put in here. Such a fantastic read and a delight on the eyes.
My favorites were Red Delicious, Weeds, Fiends With Benefits, and The Four Auspicious Priests.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys erotic comics and transmasc representation. All of the artists clearly love the characters and pieces they put in here. Such a fantastic read and a delight on the eyes.
My favorites were Red Delicious, Weeds, Fiends With Benefits, and The Four Auspicious Priests.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
How Do You Smoke a Weed? by Owlin, Lin Visel, Joseph Bergin III
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
I LOVE this comic. it's so good and informative!
i described it at the first read as "years and years of conversations and teachings about weed wrapped up in an 80 page comic book" and i still learned more from this book.
highly recommend whether you are a life-long stoer or just beginning!
i described it at the first read as "years and years of conversations and teachings about weed wrapped up in an 80 page comic book" and i still learned more from this book.
highly recommend whether you are a life-long stoer or just beginning!
What We Talk about When We Talk about Love by Raymond Carver
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
this book is, like, fine. it just doesn't do it for me. it's not describing what i would describe when i talk about love. maybe it's outdated, or maybe my love is just different than Carver's. it just didn't resonate for me.
my favorite story, the one i connected to the most, was the one told by the boy who had just lost his father. (i will find it's name and edit this later)
my favorite story, the one i connected to the most, was the one told by the boy who had just lost his father. (i will find it's name and edit this later)
Homie: Poems by Danez Smith
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
i love Smith's poetry. this is my second time reading through this book, and i connected with it much more on this read through than my last. mostly the parts about grief, i had tried to protect myself by not engaging with it. i did this time and sat with the words.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-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
Octavia Butler managed to reel me in immediately. i was so captivated by this book i struggled to put it down. highly recommend this, all of the themes are relevant to now, especially important now.
this book may end up influencing my own religious beliefs, and it's a work of fiction. the belief is real, despite the book taking place in an alternate future of our world.
i do see where Butler is coming from with her depiction of what she was observing 30 years ago. we may still even get to the point of ecological and societal collapse she describes here, if we don't snap out of our war ridden ways.
amazing book. please read this.
this book may end up influencing my own religious beliefs, and it's a work of fiction. the belief is real, despite the book taking place in an alternate future of our world.
i do see where Butler is coming from with her depiction of what she was observing 30 years ago. we may still even get to the point of ecological and societal collapse she describes here, if we don't snap out of our war ridden ways.
amazing book. please read this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Excrement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Car accident, and Murder
Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs by Rachel Jeffs
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Rachel Jeffs depicts her life, from her childhood with her father Warren Jeffs, her relationships with her own mother, her mother's sister wives, and her siblings. She describes the rate at which her family grew larger and larger as she grew, her grandfather (the previous prophet of the FLDS before Warren) passed, and her father reacted to the law and his own actions.
I was floored by this book. Jeffs wastes no time in throwing the reader right in- from the prologue she gives the reader a warning of what is to come- her abusive relationship (sexually, emotionally, and spiritually) with her father within the FLDS cult. Once i was about a third of the way in, I had trouble keeping the book down and ended up staying up late just to find out what would happen next.
Jeffs ends up with quite a happy ending despite this being an overall dark memoir. Much of the book is filled with her trials and tribulations as she navigates life in the FLDS church, but she maintains strength and dignity throughout. I highly recommend this book to those who appreciates dark memoirs- my friend recomended it to me for those reasons and she hit the nail on the head.
I was floored by this book. Jeffs wastes no time in throwing the reader right in- from the prologue she gives the reader a warning of what is to come- her abusive relationship (sexually, emotionally, and spiritually) with her father within the FLDS cult. Once i was about a third of the way in, I had trouble keeping the book down and ended up staying up late just to find out what would happen next.
Jeffs ends up with quite a happy ending despite this being an overall dark memoir. Much of the book is filled with her trials and tribulations as she navigates life in the FLDS church, but she maintains strength and dignity throughout. I highly recommend this book to those who appreciates dark memoirs- my friend recomended it to me for those reasons and she hit the nail on the head.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Miscarriage, Blood, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Infertility, and Medical content
much of part one contains Jeffs' major graphic experiences of child sexual abuse and incest. it is not graphic later in the book, but is mentioned throughout the text.
this is mostly obvious, but the whole book is about Jeffs' experience in the FLDS cult, which was not a choice of content warning.
there are a few points at which her children are hurt badly and cannot go to the hospital due to FLDS rules, im not sure whether to mark that as "medical abuse" (which i thought was doctors/medial professionals abusing their power over patients).
Life and Love: Positive Strategies for Autistic Adults by Zosia Zaks
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
i liked this book a lot- aside from all the bits encouraging police interactions. it was helpful and gave tangible strategies to real problems i, and many other autistic people, face. the book does not demean or put down autistic people for struggling with what might seem like simple struggles for allistic people. Zaks is very encouraging and advocates for autistic independence throughout the book.
a lot of the info is still relevant in 2022 (published in 2006), and i also could see how a lot of the processes described in this book are streamlined by advances in technology and social media.
additionally, i am polyamorous so the dating advice was a bit odd to read since the author pretty clearly outlined that romantic relationships only happen between two people and no one else, which is not true for me and many of my autistic friends.
overall, pretty good, and yet, there is a lot this book left out. there are huge correlations between transness and being autistic- something this book doesn't mention, which i am sure is due to stigma and lack of information, not the author.
a lot of the info is still relevant in 2022 (published in 2006), and i also could see how a lot of the processes described in this book are streamlined by advances in technology and social media.
additionally, i am polyamorous so the dating advice was a bit odd to read since the author pretty clearly outlined that romantic relationships only happen between two people and no one else, which is not true for me and many of my autistic friends.
overall, pretty good, and yet, there is a lot this book left out. there are huge correlations between transness and being autistic- something this book doesn't mention, which i am sure is due to stigma and lack of information, not the author.
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
this collection is the span of Mary Oliver's published literature. it is huge and a bit daunting. it took me four months of consistently reading the book collection by collection to finish it.
overall, it's pretty good. i love her work, and i love nature poetry. she has such a great way with words, and it is fantastic to see how her voice changes over time. some of the poems are a bit lackluster imo, but i still really like it as a whole.
she does mention g-d or "the lord" a lot. i try to take that less literally than she might mean it. im not christian, so i wouldn't be able to relate or understand the kind of diety she is describing anyway. take that for what you will.
i personally think the book should progress from her first work to her more recent work rather than the other way around, but it's her book not mine.
my favorites: wild geese, when i am among the trees, the pond, i own a house, the summer day, just as the calendar began to say summer
overall, it's pretty good. i love her work, and i love nature poetry. she has such a great way with words, and it is fantastic to see how her voice changes over time. some of the poems are a bit lackluster imo, but i still really like it as a whole.
she does mention g-d or "the lord" a lot. i try to take that less literally than she might mean it. im not christian, so i wouldn't be able to relate or understand the kind of diety she is describing anyway. take that for what you will.
i personally think the book should progress from her first work to her more recent work rather than the other way around, but it's her book not mine.
my favorites: wild geese, when i am among the trees, the pond, i own a house, the summer day, just as the calendar began to say summer