en-US Wed, 02 Jul 2025 09:40:38 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7700490469 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 09:40:38 -0700 /review/show/7700490469 Meike gave 3 stars to On Womanhood: Bodies, Literature, Choice (Kindle Edition) by Sophie Gilbert
bookshelves: usa
Gilbert's book is comprised of twelve essays navigating notions about womanhood: How we are seen, described, and how the political tide has turned against feminism. As she is a cultural critic, the author refers to numerous novels and memoirs, from Consent: A Memoir, Asymmetry, My Body, Future Home of the Living God, Red Clocks, The Power, The Handmaid's Tale, and Daddy's Gone A-Hunting to everything by Jane Austen in order to make her points.

I absolutely loved Gilbert's Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, a non-fiction book conveying how mainstream culture has been influenced by porn, and how porn in turn has become more and more violent and extreme. Her arguments are original and eye-opening, which brings us to my problem with this volume: There's not much new to see here, and some arguments even seem a little lazy to me. E.g., criticizing Emily Ratajkowski for hypocrisy might be valid, but her own awareness of that hypocrisy is the whole point of her book, and it's also what renders My Body so intriguing. Many other book reviews rely heavily on the re-telling of very obvious plot points and messages, and thus fail to provide challenging viewpoints.

Maybe I'm slightly biased because I read her later, better work first, but this isn't as spectacular and deep as it could have been. Is Sophie Gilbert still amazing? Oh yes, and I will definitely read her next effort. ]]> Review7693480502 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 09:39:25 -0700 /review/show/7693480502 Meike gave 5 stars to Paradise Logic (Kindle Edition) by Sophie Kemp
bookshelves: usa
This is a book about a 23-year-old woman trying to be successful in a way that the patriarchy approves of, and Kemp's debut is so wonderfully strange and unhinged and imaginative and funny and sad, I just loved its peculiar tone and surreal atmosphere. Protagonist Reality Kahn (actual name: Valerie Estelle Kahn) is informed by her fuck buddy, drug dealer Emil, that she should get a boyfriend as a hobby, but soon, Reality starts to perceive this as a chance to find purpose in life, to attain a fixed identity, so she goes on a quest to become the greatest girlfriend of all time: She starts dating 27-year-old crack-smoking doctoral candidate Ariel, religiously follows the advice in her new favorite magazine "Girlfriend Weekly" and even goes on a clinical trial taking experimental drugs supposed to enhance her girlfriend capabilities.

Before her quest, Reality was a punk rock chic, her passion is making zines: Her real purpose is not being a girlfriend, she is an artist. Reality worked as a cashier and a water slide model, she has a degree in theater and French from Oberlin and lives with her friends Soo-Jin and Lord Byron. Her unusual way to see and describe the world as well as her great openness and vulnerability, frequently mistaken as silly naivety, allow her to create from a unique perspective, but the idea of girlfriendhood that she adopts means that she actively starts to fight her eccentricity, instead trying to submit perfectly to a man: The vignettes Kemp presents range from funny screwball comedy to rape, rising alcohol and drug levels let the text, which is surreal from the start, spiral further.

Ariel, who specializes in the Assyrian Empire at uni, lives in "Paradise", a DIY venue named in reference to Milton (whose epic poem is of course named Paradise Lost, go figure). While he and his roommates create, Reality strives to become a vessel for him: She flatters him, gets the energy drinks and learns "lessons" from Ariel, meaning that she endures sex she doesn't want. The whole thing is particularly dire because she works so hard, and Ariel does not even pretend to love her - Reality is chasing a chimera: "Life can be very beautiful when you squint hard from the shit seats, in that place called Paradise."

Reality is born in 1996, like the author who also features in the text as, well, the author. There are many layers and references to find in here, but the most intriguing factor from an aesthetic point of view is the narrative voice that has an intentional clumsiness and a way to describe the world that constantly re-arranges perspectives. The added titles, images and descriptions relate to zine culture, and the whole novel just comes together nicely as an outrageous narrative experiment and as a page-turner: Until the very end, I wondered what would happen to Reality.

A very impressive debut and a treat for all readers who enjoy unusual narrative voices and unhinged female protagonists. ]]> Comment292314787 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 09:38:35 -0700 /review/show/7597525021 Meike's review of The Emperor of Gladness
by Ocean Vuong

Jaye Murray wrote: "perfect review. You have given me permission to put it down."

Thank you, Jaye, although I don't think that you need my permission! :-) ]]> Comment292314753 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 09:37:28 -0700 /review/show/5189383062 Meike's review of Demon Copperhead
by Barbara Kingsolver

Chrisi wrote: "I really appreciated your review. While I found this a compelling (and personally confronting) novel, I agree that the predictability of the plot made it a little problematic. As a recovered opioid..."

Thank you very much for your comment, Chrisi! ]]> Review7700490469 Tue, 01 Jul 2025 08:36:11 -0700 /review/show/7700490469 Meike gave 3 stars to On Womanhood: Bodies, Literature, Choice (Kindle Edition) by Sophie Gilbert
bookshelves: usa
Gilbert's book is comprised of twelve essays navigating notions about womanhood: How we are seen, described, and how the political tide has turned against feminism. As she is a cultural critic, the author refers to numerous novels and memoirs, from Consent: A Memoir, Asymmetry, My Body, Future Home of the Living God, Red Clocks, The Power, The Handmaid's Tale, and Daddy's Gone A-Hunting to everything by Jane Austen in order to make her points.

I absolutely loved Gilbert's Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, a non-fiction book conveying how mainstream culture has been influenced by porn, and how porn in turn has become more and more violent and extreme. Her arguments are original and eye-opening, which brings us to my problem with this volume: There's not much new to see here, and some arguments even seem a little lazy to me. E.g., criticizing Emily Ratajkowski for hypocrisy might be valid, but her own awareness of that hypocrisy is the whole point of her book, and it's also what renders My Body so intriguing. Many other book reviews rely heavily on the re-telling of very obvious plot points and messages, and thus fail to provide challenging viewpoints.

Maybe I'm slightly biased because I read her later, better work first, but this isn't as spectacular and deep as it could have been. Is Sophie Gilbert still amazing? Oh yes, and I will definitely read her next effort. ]]> Review7693480502 Tue, 01 Jul 2025 08:33:20 -0700 /review/show/7693480502 Meike gave 5 stars to Paradise Logic (Kindle Edition) by Sophie Kemp
bookshelves: usa
This is a book about a 23-year-old woman trying to be successful in a way that the patriarchy approves of, and Kemp's debut is so wonderfully strange and unhinged and imaginative and funny and sad, I just loved its peculiar tone and surreal atmosphere. Protagonist Reality Kahn (actual name: Valerie Estelle Kahn) is informed by her fuck buddy, drug dealer Emil, that she should get a boyfriend as a hobby, but soon, Reality starts to perceive this as a chance to find purpose in life, to attain a fixed identity, so she goes on a quest to become the greatest girlfriend of all time: She starts dating 27-year-old crack-smoking doctoral candidate Ariel, religiously follows the advice in her new favorite magazine "Girlfriend Weekly" and even goes on a clinical trial taking experimental drugs supposed to enhance her girlfriend capabilities.

Before her quest, Reality was a punk rock chic, her passion is making zines: Her real purpose is not being a girlfriend, she is an artist. Reality worked as a cashier and a water slide model, she has a degree in theater and French from Oberlin and lives with her friends Soo-Jin and Lord Byron. Her unusual way to see and describe the world as well as her great openness and vulnerability, frequently mistaken as silly naivety, allow her to create from a unique perspective, but the idea of girlfriendhood that she adopts means that she actively starts to fight her eccentricity, instead trying to submit perfectly to a man: The vignettes Kemp presents range from funny screwball comedy to rape, rising alcohol and drug levels let the text, which is surreal from the start, spiral further.

Ariel, who specializes in the Assyrian Empire at uni, lives in "Paradise", a DIY venue named in reference to Milton (whose epic poem is of course named Paradise Lost, go figure). While he and his roommates create, Reality strives to become a vessel for him: She flatters him, gets the energy drinks and learns "lessons" from Ariel, meaning that she endures sex she doesn't want. The whole thing is particularly dire because she works so hard, and Ariel does not even pretend to love her - Reality is chasing a chimera: "Life can be very beautiful when you squint hard from the shit seats, in that place called Paradise."

Reality is born in 1996, like the author who also features in the text as, well, the author. There are many layers and references to find in here, but the most intriguing factor from an aesthetic point of view is the narrative voice that has an intentional clumsiness and a way to describe the world that constantly re-arranges perspectives. The added titles, images and descriptions relate to zine culture, and the whole novel just comes together nicely as an outrageous narrative experiment and as a page-turner: Until the very end, I wondered what would happen to Reality.

A very impressive debut and a treat for all readers who enjoy unusual narrative voices and unhinged female protagonists. ]]> Comment292274505 Tue, 01 Jul 2025 08:32:02 -0700 /review/show/7690952723 Meike's review of The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships, and Other Freedoms in Sex and Love
by Dossie Easton

Jennifer wrote: "Meike wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "I didn’t know that, so interesting. I wish it would be legalized here in the US."

It should be legal, I'm all for it, it's just that there need to be rigid and effec..."

We'll keep on hoping that the circumstances of sex workers will improve everywhere, Jennifer! ]]>