Allison

As someone who is trying to get back into reading again by reading graphic novels, I thought what better graphic novel to read than one based on the literary classic The Handmaids Tale. Now I'll be honest that I haven't read the original novel and I've only seen one episode of the series, so there were definitely some parts that I got lost with or it truly didn't connect with me. For instance, the transition between chapter 13 and 14 seemed disconnected and threw me off, but I have a feeling the original story was able to connect these quite well. Overall the art was beautiful and despite the slight confusion on what was happening near the end, I really enjoyed the cautionary tale that was being told. I definitely want to read Atwood's original work now!

When I started this I was worried it would be a bit dry, almost encyclopedic. That wasn't the case at all. Bill Bryson made learning about the body incredibly pleasurable as his stereotypical British humor shone through. The Body also had many pensive moments as well. The book does a wonderful job making you realize how much effort and homeostasis is truly needed to keep you running. As well as how much of the outside world around you truly has as much effect on your long-term health as you do. Much of it unchangeable on an individual level.

I want to add that the audiobook for this is fantastic! Mr. Bryson is a remarkable narrator.

I didn't really know what to think of this one at first. A chunk of the first part of the book is a lot of sulking between the two main protagonists and I thought the art/panels from the first book were a lot more fun to look at. However, as the book went on I ended up loving this book way more than the first one. This one is a lot more mature than the first one and easier to connect to. On top of this, the themes and overall message of the story are really poignant and really hit home for me. My one other complaint is that I wish you didn't need to read the first book to get the full effect of this book. While I did like Sheets I think I would recommend this one more to others but unfortunately I can't since you do need to read the first book for this one to work.

I will say I don't recommend reading this at work. I had to pause a few times reading near the end so I'm not boohoo crying at work.

“Some say people who join cults are ‘lost.' But all human beings are lost to some degree. Life is disorderly and confusing for absolutely everyone. A more thoughtful way to think about how people find themselves in precariously cultish scenarios is that these folks are actively searching to be found”

You'd think being in the library field that I would have no problems reading but with the advent of social media I find that getting through a book can be more of a challenge than it should be. However with Cultish by Amanda Montell I had no issues at all and found this to be a delight to read. What true crime documentaries and books are to some people is what cult docs and books are to me. I've always been fascinated by them since I was younger, and I'm always looking forward to the next big media about cults. However this book is more than that, it's a deep dive into how and why people join what we understand as “cults” and the author successfully asserts that it all comes down to language. The book doesn't just cover religious cults, it covers fitness, health/wellness, and “conspirituality” (conspiracy and spirituality) cults. They all use similar language styles to get converts, followers, and patrons. Whether they use this language style for good or bad is, in some parts, left up to you as a reader and makes you think about your relationship with language and some of the groups she mentions. Overall a great, easy read that I highly recommend!

I read this for two reasons, I'm doing a series of readings where I read the book first and then watch the film to compare. This book and the film were the easiest to access quickly for me so I chose to start with this first. I haven't watched the film yet, maybe I'll amend this review once I do. The other reason being that this was already on my to read list and so I figured this would be a good two-birds-in-one-stone situation.

The book though, to me, was mildly disappointing. The art style didn't click with me too well. Which, in this books defense, is following up with me reading Helen of Wyndhorn so it was a big act to follow in that regard. The most difficult thing for me to deal with though was that I had trouble reading Clementine's handwriting. I can read cursive so it may have been the eBook transfer, but it made it hard to connect with what's going on.

Probably the point that I struggled with the most was that this very quickly delved into gay trauma porn territory for me. It's not that gay couples can't have problems in their relationships and that shouldn't be presented in a book. I'd love to see normal relationships dynamics shown in media more! It's that this book got depressing really fast and really hard near the end while glossing over any happy moments. It's very jarring as I thought their relationship build up was doing great up until a certain point.

Overall I do think this is an important read for young adults grappling with their sexuality, especially in more prejudiced times like we are in now. However I hope those young adults know that they can be in happy relationships too, not all relationships are traumatic and end horribly like this one does.