After the conservatorship, I could eat chocolate again.
I made the mistake of returning this audiobook before snagging the (many) bookmarked quotes th
After the conservatorship, I could eat chocolate again.
I made the mistake of returning this audiobook before snagging the (many) bookmarked quotes that jumped out at me but the one I remember above is a fine example of a few words that packs one of the many emotional punches that hit throughout this brief book and underscores the awful injustices perpetrated against this woman by so many. I was never a Britney-stan, though she's my contemporary. And now, though she's essentially my age, and wiser and stronger for what she's been through, i just want to Mama Bear hug her and let her know she's loved and safe and enough. My God her parents, the media, her lawyers, staffers, former flames etc are on my SHIT LIST! I hope J.T. can't show his face in good society ever again and I hope she is granted renumeration from her parents who should have protected and loved her unconditionally and instead abused her work ethic and people-pleasing persona for their own ends! Aside from the scandalous nature of the events so straightforwardly and honesty presented here, the writing is actually spectacular. I have always assumed Britney to be a pretty bimbo but she is honestly brilliant, witty and somehow still folksy throughout this telling. Michelle Williams does a great job on the narration (and I would highly recommend the audiobook!) and in the end I have to put Britney in the same category as Dolly Parton - frank, familiar, hard-working, compassionate, talented and completely BRILLIANT. Its a fast read or listen, and I highly recommend!...more
An interesting retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" though the heroine is not a hostage and the hero is beast in manner and disfigurement only. It doesAn interesting retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" though the heroine is not a hostage and the hero is beast in manner and disfigurement only. It doesn't sell the romance nor eliminate the more problematic aspects of the story, but the fantasy and mystery of the "Whistling Tor" ghostly figures and emanations are well done. To be honest, it reads more like a mystery novel where someone is out to get the heroine (view spoiler)[and are we really surprised when its the only other woman in the area who's the villain? (hide spoiler)] and the heroine is obtuse for a little too long. Definitely doesn't pass the Bechdel test either!...more
This could have been titled "How to Identify Abuse in Your Partner and Why They'll (Probably) Never Change." I initially rated this 4 stars and then suThis could have been titled "How to Identify Abuse in Your Partner and Why They'll (Probably) Never Change." I initially rated this 4 stars and then surprised myself when I returned to write the review after some distance - maybe I was just nodding along to too many scenarios detailed here that I recognized in a past partner, maybe I was feeling too smug for extricating myself? For anyone that has experienced partner abuse, this will feel validating, triggering and also exasperating. For anyone in the sociology or psychology fields, this will be infuriating because it is 100% anecdotal based on the author's sole experience in counseling abusive men, most of whom were forced to participate in his group counseling to stave off restraining orders or more significant consequences for domestic violence. He has a (male) co-counselor that he refers to from time to time to confirm his conclusions but that is it. In his practice, he interviewed the victims of his client's abuse as well to get a thorough picture and establish if the counseling was making progress and so he does hear a lot of female and same-sex partners' side of things... but that is not to actually better understand his clients for rehabilitation, it is often to confirm that the victim's should RUN very fast.
One of the most annoying items (besides the complete lack of peer-reviewed or even sole research citations) is the lack of guidance on what to do - for the victims, for the judicial system OR for the clients. In this way I feel that it fails it's titled mission, unlike an adjacent-themed book Asking For It 'The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture, and What We Can Do About It' by author Kate Harding which provides step by step identification of cultural, media and judicial system issues, how to see through the BS, and how to counter it for effective results....more
the final quote of the book sums up the tone well:
The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most pot
the final quote of the book sums up the tone well:
The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet. - Adrienne Rich
though the relationships among the three main women in the story are more legacy and intent than actual connections, the sentiment still applies. Altha ("Healer") Weyward in the 1600's, Violet Ayres in the 1930's and Kate Ayres in present day are all women with dangerous gifts both coveted and threatening to the men in their lives. They stand in well for the power that women can have to shape the world for better especially when supporting each other and for the eternal struggle against the patriarchy who refuses to share power and vilifies women who defy their conventions. The book is short and fast paced with short chapters alternating between the three women but connecting them throughout. I'm impressed with this as a debut - it was descriptive and lovely where it needed to be but spare in its overall prose. content warning: themes of abuse, rape and medical abuse of women portrayed...more
a fun and compelling read through a fictionalized historical Hollywood my problems with it: I don't think Taylor Jenkins Reid is either biracial OR bi-a fun and compelling read through a fictionalized historical Hollywood my problems with it: I don't think Taylor Jenkins Reid is either biracial OR bi-sexual and while I think people can write outside their sphere, we're talking about identities she gave the title and main characters and she uses these identities as allegories for each other which gave me the "um...."'s. Also aside from the MC, the book is VERY white and even the MC can pass for white if she tries. All other POC are dead and/or have no lines in the story. Its a big contrast to the LGBTQ world hidden inside old Hollywood which is much better represented... except that even when we're talking present-day, it's still hidden... (view spoiler)[only to be revealed in the tell-all that makes up this story (hide spoiler)]. The MC/narrator being half black however impacts her in only the most obvious ways and (IMO) didn't add to the story's layers in any way. So.... my review is all on the negative which means I might come back and remove a star after I sit on it a bit. Otherwise, while the tone and narrative style matched Daisy Jones and the Six, the story was vastly different and addressed a whole host of different topics and the tale was a quick, compelling read with great prose - so props to the author, and I'll likely check out the next one....more
excellent in audio format with 3 very good narrators for Olga, her brother and their Mami. New York/Brooklyn felt alive, Olga's family was vibrant, heexcellent in audio format with 3 very good narrators for Olga, her brother and their Mami. New York/Brooklyn felt alive, Olga's family was vibrant, her relationships were messy but believable and her/her brother's trauma and growth really propel the story.
part of the 2022 Tournament of Books Bracket...more
A gothic and supernatural retelling of Sleeping Beauty where the princess is held captive by her duty and her evil, abusive husband and her sister musA gothic and supernatural retelling of Sleeping Beauty where the princess is held captive by her duty and her evil, abusive husband and her sister must brave trials to learn how to fight for her freedom. The main character princess is stolid, mid-30's, used to manual labor and happier left alone but decides she cannot stand idly by once she knows her sister's fate. This felt modern in it's telling but also reminded me of older fairytales where there are true horrors along the way and not everyone comes through unscathed. This definitely made me a fan of T. Kingfisher though it was a little slow to start after the opening scene. ...more
Reread early 2025 after buying the much-anticipated sequel. I vaguely remembered the feminism of this book but I had forgotten all about the feminine Reread early 2025 after buying the much-anticipated sequel. I vaguely remembered the feminism of this book but I had forgotten all about the feminine rage contained within - or maybe it was just too pre-felon winning the WH to reflect my own rage as clearly. Whoo did I feel it and leap to underlining this round! “All appeasement ever gets us is more violence and submission and disrespect” (paraphrasing but will definitely make that quote public)! Preach Xiran!...more
3.5 for story, 5 for overall beauty I'm a sucker for mythology and retellings so this is up my alley -- and it is great, but it's done at a soap-opera 3.5 for story, 5 for overall beauty I'm a sucker for mythology and retellings so this is up my alley -- and it is great, but it's done at a soap-opera pace with a zillion almost-kisses and lingering looks: only ok because we know where the story is going. There are some decent discussions on trauma and consent but this is mostly a slow-burn of young (19), pure (of heart, etc), cuddly/touchy (she sleeps in a nymph pack) naive (see previous:young) Persephone and old (2000+ yrs), lonely (King of the Underworld), damaged (spent 13yrs alone in the belly of his crappy father), aloof (see lonely, damaged) Hades having the hots-at-first-sight for each other and then carefully tiptoeing around their feelings, politics, existing commitments etc. for a ton of issues. Happily there are a lot of side tales with the other gods in the meantime - some lesser known than others.
There are 189 issues as of today (2 seasons worth, 2nd season not yet complete) and only 25 of them are contained in Volume One of the printed version. I have a bit of a headache from catching up on all of the WebToon issues not in print ... and also gnashing my teeth at the 'get on with it already!'-ness of it all. ...more
"I know you're in pain. I know what it is not to have a child. It can make you do terrible things." I wanted to tell him I had done nothing terrible..
"I know you're in pain. I know what it is not to have a child. It can make you do terrible things." I wanted to tell him I had done nothing terrible..."I never hurt Ulla," I said instead..."It's all gossip and nonsense."... "I know that, Ada," he said. "Then why would you do this? Why chase me all this way?" I felt tears welling in my eyes... "It's such a hard world," the sherrif said. "People need some way of making sense of it. You know that as well as I do..... When I child dies... or a man loses his wife in childbirth -- these things aren't bearable, Ada, not without help. But if you know why it happened, if you have someone or somebody to blame, then sometimes that's enough to keep going.... They'll be lighter ... when I bring you back. We all have to make sacrifices, Ada. I'm sorry, but this is yours."
What he means there - what everyone means in this tale - is women have to make sacrifices... or if it's a man 'making the sacrifice', the sacrifice is his woman. This isn't exactly a happy tale, but there is some justice for even the most well meaning and unsuperstitious citizen being willing to sacrifice an innocent woman to the capriciousness of fate.
Ada stars in this alternative history (a widespread Flu wipes out most of North America, as if smallpox had taken as many hereditarily European as Indigenous folk) where having babies is considered paramount and those blessed with motherhood many times over have agency to divorce their husbands while those barren are viewed with suspicion and fear. There are a lot of obvious American-brand Christianity parallels to make in terms of misogyny, hypocrisy and abuse though this story is more about a bunch of women deciding to live their lives as fully as possible (by becoming outlaws - which their communities made of them before they ever rob anyone) and to trust and rely upon each other's strengths as their own found family. Queer as anything and pretty great, but not nearly as 'rollicking' as I was expecting. This story takes itself fairly seriously. ...more
I dropped this down a star after reflection as I think I reluctantly granted it 3-stars due to all the hype and love for this book (and it is decentlyI dropped this down a star after reflection as I think I reluctantly granted it 3-stars due to all the hype and love for this book (and it is decently written). The Silence of the Girls title is disappointingly referring to the lack of humanity the author grants the women of Troy. This is not a 'feminist retelling of the Iliad' as critics and rapt reviewers keep calling it - in fact, it doesn't even pass the Bechdel test (they only talk about the men with each other). For a book purportedly about the women of the Iliad's war, it is all about the men: particularly Achilles and Agamemnon, it just happens to be told through the eyes of the women they have subjugated. These women watch and report on the comings and goings of the men because their lives depend on it, the most they can offer each other is sympathy, they do not support, defend, or enable each other or even themselves. I've read survivor's tales and this is not it: these queens and priestesses have been denigrated to the point of no longer holding humanity, they are simply the trophies and pets of the men even those that "survive" do so not because they enacted some sort of their own agency - no, it is because their father protests or because the war is over and they happen to be the property of someone who feels some sense of guilty obligation towards them. The women in the beginning who kill themselves are literally the only ones who could claim to have agency.
Maybe I would have more patience with the story if it had been marketed as "The Iliad through the lives of the women behind the scenes" and not some long-awaited justice for those oft-ignored characters.... but the book can handle my scorn as it has plenty of love and benefit-of-the-doubt from all quarters - it doesn't need mine as well. ...more