riverestyx's reviews
31 reviews

I really struggled reading this. I planned to read each section on each holiday before the holiday happened but I didn't manage that for a variety of reasons. This is Real gets sold as The Book of The High Holiday Season and I can see why but it also isn't The Book of The High Holiday Season either. I only read all of it because it was so heavily recommended and I knew there was some insight buried in the pages.

Before I gripe more I want to say that if you struggle with Yom Kippur because of the way many Jewish people address mortality via what feels like death cosplay because you have trauma, are poor, disabled or chronically ill, or anything like that you will struggle with this book in the same ways. I'm trying to find ways to make YK meaningful when I regularly have to deal with failing health and forced poverty as my entire life.

There is so much sexism blatantly on the pages (and how he talked about his ex wife was.. odd) all throughout the book as well. It very much feels like R' Lew was the kind of person to say he supported minorities but his actions or how he says it tells us otherwise.

I wouldn't suggest this book as some great book for the season to a marginalized person at all.

YA isn't usually my genre but I've seen so much talk about this book so I figured I'd give it a try. Definitely trying to be a new spin on Beauty and the Beast (which I do appreciate).

It was a slow start and Feyre's I'm not like the other girls attitude was incredibly grating during the first half of the book. Her opinions of her sisters was also obnoxious to sit through. I get why she feels that way but Feyre just has zero nuance as a character or in her opinions. Maybe I have this gripe because I was like her as a teen/young adult but it was a real drag either way.

There is also a character in here that it seems like her only job is to info dump onto Feyre, and therefore the reader, which sucks because she could have been a really interesting and useful (in other ways) character.

This wasn't a Bad book but it also wasn't a Capitol G Good book either. I do plan on reading the second book as I'm told it is better than the first one so we shall see.

I was reading this for a book club and it's just so far out of my tastes and I stopped reading it. It's not a bad book. Just didn't reel me in as someone not into that genre

This is the first novel in years that has had me hanging on and needing more. I would do extra chores to just keep listening and trying to find out where the story weaves. 

This isn't me usual genre nor my usual format but I'm glad I read it. I'm not the target audience of this book but I'm so happy to have read a positive book about an LGBT character. The art style is fun and the text deals with some big topics in a very short amount of time.

I was so excited about this book from the day I saw Button announce it. I've seen Ollie's work on YouTube and as someone with a dead dad, I was excited to dive in. I was not prepared for how much reading this would make me feel about my dad and our relationship when none of my circumstances were like Oillie's. I'm so glad I read this book and that Ollie got to share this collection with the world.

I couldn't trudge through this book because every single reference to Nicole pre-transition is as her dead name and I just can't keep reading through that.

Andrea knocks it out of the park yet again with their most recent collection. These poems made me cry while I read them in public but also gave me hope at the same time. I always will recommend Andrea's work but this one feels especially special. There is also something very special about being a queer person from a small town in Maine reading pages full of love and hope from another queer person from a small town in Maine.