Rated each story individually, added it up and divided to get 3/5. In short, we got 3 good stories.
Abacus by Nathan Adler. 2/5 stars. Definitely my lRated each story individually, added it up and divided to get 3/5. In short, we got 3 good stories.
Abacus by Nathan Adler. 2/5 stars. Definitely my least favorite of the stories. The conflation of homosexuality and bestiality is something that same-sex attracted people have been fighting for a very long time, as conservatives often see homosexuality as unnatural in the same way bestiality is. Combining the two in this story made for a very creepy mask-off show of what this author's view on same-sex attractedness means to them. If it sounds bad, it's because it is - it's a love story between a boy and a rat. Yeah, the revulsion is pretty bad. AI including animals was the most interesting part of the story, but even then, it shows that the author doesn't consider animals as having their own intelligence. Yet another disturbing revelation.
History of the New World by Adam Garnet Jones. 1/5 stars. A story about lesbians written by a male. No wonder it's so toxic and antagonistic towards the main character's wife, Thorah. Additionally, the flippant phrase "Thorah got pregnant (as though implanting your wife's egg is something passive and not a procedure that requires planning, many hormonal injections, and a lot of work and money) showed the maleness of the author. It's a story about women by someone with no idea of what life is like as a woman, let alone as a same-sex attracted woman. Absolutely awful.
The Ark of the Turtle's Back by jaye simpson. 0/5 stars - is that an option? The most performative of all the stories in this book, and the most antifeminist. It is insulting that the main character of this story refers to having their moon, as they are male and males on HRT do not experience a period. The inclusion of a womb transplant surgery as part of this author's futurism goes to show they have no respect for women at all, as they think our parts can be interchanged with men. Even in rats, a womb transplant requires two female mice to be sacrificed for one very unstable male mouse. The inclusion of neopronouns for extra woke-ness makes the story incredibly clunky to read. Do not recommend.
How to Survive the Apocalypse for Native Girls by Kai Minosh Pyle. 2/5 stars. Written as a list of items, made absolutely no sense that way. Included a story about an abused gender non-conforming girl (not the main character).
Andwanikadjigan by Gabriel Castilloux Calderon. 5/5 stars! This was incredibly interesting. The idea of physical marks for storytelling was very compelling, like a history written in skin. Very beautiful.
Story for a Bottle by Darcie Little Badger. 5/5 stars! WHAT a story. The ship kidnapping the protag, the idea of floating hideaways for an apocalypse that didn't even happen, the ingenuity of outsmarting Olivia. I would love to see this as a movie.
Seed Children by Mari Kurisato. 3/5 stars. Artificial humans aren't humans. This is a story that glorifies the modified human body. Gee, I wonder who benefits from that.
Nameless by Nazbah Tom. 4/5 stars. This felt too short. There was just so much story covered and not enough fleshed out. However, the travelling aspect was so interesting. I loved the idea, though. I appreciated the asterisk beside the use of they/them pronouns so we could tell when it was a singular use of they/them/their.
Eloise by David A. Robertson. 5/5 stars. This read like a Black Mirror episode. I was incredibly invested from start to finish. It was like a mix of Black Mirror and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Amazing. ...more
-1 star for graphic details about sec between minors. I don't want to read that. I don't know what would**spoiler alert** This was an interesting one.
-1 star for graphic details about sec between minors. I don't want to read that. I don't know what would possess an adult to write that.
I had no idea that this book had anything to do with mythos until it was almost the end of it. It read like a YA novel that was overly gratuitous with violence and sex. I wish there was more magic earlier on. The witch stuff was entirely too hasty. -1 for that as well (and for the absolutely random incest plotline. Could have done without).
I read another review that mentioned the number of times Jared threw up. I do think it makes sense to mention those, because he was constantly drinking to the point that he got help from AA. That made me really happy for Jared.
Sarah was cool. Oblivion is one of my favorite Grimes songs, so I was happy to see her mentioned in the book. However, her being categorized as weird and then mentioned as being into polyamory (as a minor....) was really off.
I can't say that the drinking and drugs was something I was familiar with in high school. It made me feel for Jared with everything going on that he was still in school. School has enough of its own stress and I can't imagine how difficult it was for him.
I'll likely read the rest of the trilogy because it seemed like this book was a setup for the next ones. Hopefully more magic to come....more
This was a book I read in one three hour stretch. It felt like an invitation into Wente's mind and heart, with touching stories of his life and actionThis was a book I read in one three hour stretch. It felt like an invitation into Wente's mind and heart, with touching stories of his life and actions for us to take. I was so happy when I found out he studied at U of T (selfish bit of pride at us both being alum). I thought it was so interesting how he outlined his own privileges in life and how that led to where he is today. This is something we often invite people to do (think "check your privilege") and it shows us how to do it in a manner that is respectful of those who do not have those same privileges and how to use it in a way to benefit those who are not afforded the same benefits in life.
I love that he mentions that creating art is an act of decolonization, and how he outlines the way that colonial powers are still damaging to Indigenous Peoples to this day. I had never thought about it from this perspective, because as he mentions, everything talks about the damage being in the past and from a far off history. Two generations is not that long ago. His respect to his grandmother and love for her shows us that two generations ago can be remembered today.
I personally haven't watched Avatar, but it has been recommended to me hundreds of times. Everyone always mentions the special effects. The sequel will be out soon, and I remember seeing the trailer and "ooh-ing" and "aah-ing" over the beauty of it all. I would likely have watched the first movie and thought the same - how beautiful. His perspective on how it is a movie of a white man essentially skinwalking as a Native of the planet in the movie made me feel sick. Why would someone feel compelled to tell a story like that? Similarly, the plot of Hostiles made me sick.
Overall, a great read, and it was even nicer since they're someone from my community. Really recommend reading this if you're a Canadian....more
The story started slowly, building up to what seemed like a cute teen romance. I like romances, and the addition of AniThis book brought me to tears.
The story started slowly, building up to what seemed like a cute teen romance. I like romances, and the addition of Aniishinabe cultural elements made the book have a personal feel to it. The struggle Travis was facing was something that I felt very sympathetic towards, as drug addiction (especially (view spoiler)[ methamphetamine addiction (hide spoiler)] is hard to escape.
And then (view spoiler)[ Lily was shot to death by Travis. (hide spoiler)] I was sick to my stomach. It was at that point that I read the book for five hours straight with no interruptions until I finished it.
I hate (view spoiler)[ Levi. (hide spoiler)] What a manipulative POS. But SO well written. To be able to hurt someone that way is not love. The author is correct - love is not control. There is love between Daunis and her community, especially with her elders. But (view spoiler)[ I don't think her brother could have truly loved her if he was able to go through with framing her and kidnapping her and then blackmailing her into making meth. (hide spoiler)]
I love that Daunis was healing at the end. I love that she embraces her culture. Growing up, I was so ashamed of my own culture. Seeing others love theirs brings a fierce joy to my heart.
What a rollercoaster of a read. I can't recommend enough. Love love love. ...more
Crystal clear, even for someone like me who knows nothing about law. It's actually quite disheartening to learn Canada doesn't require any Indigenous Crystal clear, even for someone like me who knows nothing about law. It's actually quite disheartening to learn Canada doesn't require any Indigenous Supreme Court members (especially with the reasoning McIvor gives).
In this case, I'm an ally. I definitely want to be cautious about speaking over anyone (when he mentioned that he cried because of this, my heart hurt). It was nice to see in print that there are so many actionable items that can be completed if governing bodies make the effort to do them. Perhaps if others read this, they will take Indigenous populations and their treatments into consideration in their lives and work. Seeing that feel-good land acknowledgements are a problem and not a solution didn't surprise me. Additionally, I fully agree with the acceptance of Canada as a racist state. It's evident throughout the essay and there is so much to back up everything mentioned.
I can't imagine how terrible it must be, to continually have to fight for rights in your own country, on what should have been your land. It sounds like an ongoing traumatic experience. The harm done by long corridor projects to real people in real communities is devastating. It's exploitation of both a land and it's peoples.
I would recommend my fellow Canadians to please give this a read....more
Very short read. There also aren't pronouns for he/she in my language, but it did seem very deliberate to keep switching between he and she between stVery short read. There also aren't pronouns for he/she in my language, but it did seem very deliberate to keep switching between he and she between stories - at least the author kept those the same for awâsis within stories so they were easier to follow. The stories themselves were entertaining, if a little crude, but I feel like they were meant to be crude since awâsis is an inner child figure. Nice to learn some words in Cree. ...more
This was a poem of love to Mother Earth. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone, but especially to those who have a love for plants.
As a BanglThis was a poem of love to Mother Earth. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone, but especially to those who have a love for plants.
As a Bangladeshi woman, I have recognized that my country will be lost under the Bay of Bengal due to global warming, most likely during my lifetime. I came to Canada as a child, and have been learning about my new home ever since. I don't know if I have yet been naturalized, but I am doing my best to learn more about the non-human persons in my community each year. If it wasn't for this book, I would never know that the Purple Loosestrife around the beaver dam near me is an invasive species. I know that my efforts to grow close to the land here will not change what is happening in the land that I am indigenous to; however, it brings me closer to my Mother, which is the land that has taken me in with open arms despite my not being from its soil.
My act of love to Her is my garden each year. And in the vegetables and flowers she yields this summer, I will be happy to know that she loves me back. ...more
I felt a lot of emotions reading this, especially when it came to finding a language that is being lost. I have been to multiple places in Ontario andI felt a lot of emotions reading this, especially when it came to finding a language that is being lost. I have been to multiple places in Ontario and have only learned a few Anishinaabe words, but I'm glad to add nishin to my vocabulary. This really evokes the importance of passing down history and how much culture was destroyed thoughtlessly by the creation of Residential schools, and how they caused multigenerational trauma that we must acknowledge. Acknowledging and moving on is not enough - something needs to be done, and centering Indigenous voices seems to be a move in the right direction. I love that this was a dystopian novel that wasn't just about white people - think Hunger Games, Divergent, The Giver, Matched...this is the kind of dystopia that is more real because it is rooted in history and in present trauma.
(view spoiler)[ I thought the romance between Rose and Frenchie was a little juvenile for the way the rest of the novel was written, but I know that's just because I'm an adult reading it, lol.
Also, Ri-Ri's death hit me like a sack of rocks in the chest. I had to stop reading because of how upsetting it was. (hide spoiler)]...more
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