Zee (he/they)

Contains too much disproven science, and is truely missing an understanding of neurodiversity.

I really enjoyed how radical this was, but I fear this author's writing is just a little too on the nose for me.

The way he wrote about autism in particular is very validating, but at the same time, it lacks WAY too much subtlety for me to find the reading enjoyable.

So I love that AJW tackles these radical topics, topics that are very near to my heart, but I low-key hate his writing style. Makes me sad!

This is probably a fit for you if you're into new age stuff, but some of these claims were WILD. Good massage overall, but some moments were a fever dream.

Cool that this exists, but I hated it.

(I try not to give non-fiction/political texts star ratings)

This was beautifully written! I was, however, a little disappointed the author mostly mentioned intersectional identities in passing without exploring their interaction with fairytales more.

(I try not to give non-fiction/political texts star ratings)

This had interesting points, helpful analogies, and informative historical examples.

This was so CUTE! Join a union!!!!!!

Ugh, I had hoped for so much more!

Crying because this book exists, and it helped me heal a little ❤️‍🩹

❤️‍🩹✨Crip astronauts✨❤️‍🩹

Well written, but oh so not for me

This book made me cry. Not just about mushrooms, but about this beautiful planet and it's complexity, as well as about humans, whom I struggle to love sometimes, but who's dedication and love of nature is wonderfully illustrated in this. Thank you Merlin.

Eye opening!

I absolutely needed this book, and I am so thankful it exists! Wish more people read it so I could have more people to talk to about it ❤️‍🩹

“If you see anyone trying to narrow the definition of neuroqueer, and trying to police who gets to use the term, feel free to tell them that I said to stop acting like a fucking cop. The world needs more queering, and fewer cops.”

(3+1 cause I'm happy it exists) This was good. I still wished it had been better.

I do not understand how this book is rated so highly? Lk angry about it, as I think it's an example of white guilt and white innocence Frankensteining into insufferable liberalism.

Thought this would be a refreshing casual encounter with death as I am grieving a loved one, but the gruesome descriptions of animal deaths in this kinda caught me off guard.

(2,5) I feel like the bones of a great book are here, but unfortunately they are the bones of a decomposing corpse. A shame, cause I enjoyed the vibe of this overall, but it feels like the author had a great idea, wrote it down, and then stopped there :( This missed refinement, it missed depth, and worst of all, it missed having a strong conclusion of all the big themes it brought up.

-I don't think I can give this book a star rating yet, cause I just gotta sit with it a bit longer.- (1,5 final rating. I had to take it down cause the stance on suicide, especially in this specific case of terminal illness, is unacceptable to me. I cannot get over it.)
However, I will say that this was weird and gross and that it disturbed and unsettled me, which I love! I want what I read to make me question myself, to make me think about the limits of my comfort. I loved giggling at the absurdity, at the stupidity, at the awkwardness of human behaviour. I think the writing style/choices that didn't work for a lot of people were what made this work for me. The repetition made me feel like I was circling the drain of grief, and that felt cathartic in this setting. I couldn't put this down! The queer mess still being messy at the end warmed my heart, even though it was the writing and not the events of the ending that made this feel finished to me.
What didn't work for me however was the stance this took on suicide. That was really disturbing to me, and kind of taints everything else. It could also definitely have been 10% shorter.

Wasn't planning on reading this this month, and there's always a long queue on it, but it became available at my library, so why not. This was cute I guess, but I'm too much of a nitpicky hater.

(4,5) How is it that even with a plot line that doesn't interest me, a setting that tests the limits of my empathy, and relationships that make me this uncomfortable, Jemisin still manages to get me completely invested?! True magic, if you ask me, is her penmanship.

(2,5) This was unsatisfying. Did not enjoy the premise of a school full of girls indulging in the worst of their individualism. Maybe that was the point and I missed it, but I feel disappointed nonetheless.

The repetitiveness took away from the beauty and strength of this message. It reads like an essay that got stretched out into a book, not like a manifesto. Shame, cause it's such an important message. Though the language was a little too religious for me personally.

3 stars cause this was enjoyable enough, but YA, a genre I have officially overdosed on +1 cause I'm so happy this book exists