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trywii's reviews
384 reviews
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
2.0
Painfully YA and trope-y, and it was disappointingly so. The opening was solid and had me intrigued about how the world worked, but unfortunately anything that sounds cool that could be explored gets sidelined so we can focus more on how EPIC the characters look and how much our protagonist is so Smart and BETTER than other girls…nothing says ‘F the Patriarchy’ like putting down female characters who can’t/won’t step out of line!
Skip this- Whatever positive thing you hear about this book, know that it’s a fraction of the story and that for a majority of the time it’s the protagonist acting contradictory to her own goals and ideals every other scene between intermissions of ‘Patriarchy is SO uncool >:(‘ without the protagonist doing anything tangible to fight against said patriarchy.
I’m saying this as someone who loves feminist literature and was really looking forward to a fantasy story with a female protag fighting monsters with super powers- It’s not that good.
I’m giving it 2 stars instead of 1 because it was a relatively quick read and there are some genuinely good ideas that at the very least kept me interested.
Skip this- Whatever positive thing you hear about this book, know that it’s a fraction of the story and that for a majority of the time it’s the protagonist acting contradictory to her own goals and ideals every other scene between intermissions of ‘Patriarchy is SO uncool >:(‘ without the protagonist doing anything tangible to fight against said patriarchy.
I’m saying this as someone who loves feminist literature and was really looking forward to a fantasy story with a female protag fighting monsters with super powers- It’s not that good.
I’m giving it 2 stars instead of 1 because it was a relatively quick read and there are some genuinely good ideas that at the very least kept me interested.
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
5.0
An atmospheric and touching comic- Highly recommended to those who make/enjoy comics and art in general. Less of an instruction manual and How-To-Draw book than it is an exploration of the medium.
NPCs by Drew Hayes
3.0
A meh fantasy adventure. The gimmick of NPCs taking the helm when the player characters are away isn’t explored as much as I had hoped. If you cut out the parts focused on the player characters and the normal human world, the story would be virtually unchanged. Not particularly bad, but not particularly fun either.
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
4.0
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that put more rage in my body than this one
Mushroom Magick: Ritual, Celebration, and Lore by Shawn Engel
2.0
Just a book of mushrooms and some fun facts/history about them alongside magical correspondents. Not good for a mushroom guide (illustrations and information is heavily lacking), and pretty bare bones as a magical correspondents guide. You’re better off using a local foraging guide or a practical mushroom book coupling it with a different witchy book
Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture by Sara Petersen
2.0
For a book titled ‘Momfluenced’, there is surprisingly little focused about the ins-and-outs of influencer culture, the business aspects of that, and the impact it has on the children used to make ‘content’.
A good chunk of this book is:
- Talking about various aesthetics in painful detail and how they’re sooo unrealistic (yes, we get it, having a white couch/carpet/ANYTHING is a nightmare scenario when having toddlers)
- Extended quotes from various influencers with the word ‘like’ and much of the accessories remaining uncut, making it unbearable to sit through
- How the whole influencer industry is every ‘-ist’ and ‘-normative’ in the book, but not really pointing at any influencers who’ve exerted and perpetuated these thing overtly or more importantly using these terms in an impactful way instead of dropping them every other paragraph
- Name drops of podcasts that I would rather be listening to than this audiobook
More than anything, I’m shocked at the complete lack of focus on how children/teens have been impacted by influencer culture, especially since they’re kind of the primary focus of all the images, posts, and subjects. Can’t be a mommy blogger without a kid, so where’s the chapter focused on how messed up it leaves a lot of them?
Theres also a notable lack of influencers who are outside of instagram. Much of the mom accounts I’m aware of are on youtube and tiktok, not so much on instagram, so I feel the author is seriously missing out on a huge portion of the modern phenomena. Much of the darker aspects are also more visible on places outside of instagram, so it’s kind of a let down that the book barely grazes the surface of how horrible and insidious much of mommy-influencer culture can be.
This book is more about the role of ‘Mom’ as a cultural role than it is about ‘Momfluencers’. While it’s hypercritical of influencers as a concept, there’s not much of a critical eye on ‘good’ influencers. The whole book feels very superficial and fails to go deeper than it really deserves to. Incredibly disappointing.
A good chunk of this book is:
- Talking about various aesthetics in painful detail and how they’re sooo unrealistic (yes, we get it, having a white couch/carpet/ANYTHING is a nightmare scenario when having toddlers)
- Extended quotes from various influencers with the word ‘like’ and much of the accessories remaining uncut, making it unbearable to sit through
- How the whole influencer industry is every ‘-ist’ and ‘-normative’ in the book, but not really pointing at any influencers who’ve exerted and perpetuated these thing overtly or more importantly using these terms in an impactful way instead of dropping them every other paragraph
- Name drops of podcasts that I would rather be listening to than this audiobook
More than anything, I’m shocked at the complete lack of focus on how children/teens have been impacted by influencer culture, especially since they’re kind of the primary focus of all the images, posts, and subjects. Can’t be a mommy blogger without a kid, so where’s the chapter focused on how messed up it leaves a lot of them?
Theres also a notable lack of influencers who are outside of instagram. Much of the mom accounts I’m aware of are on youtube and tiktok, not so much on instagram, so I feel the author is seriously missing out on a huge portion of the modern phenomena. Much of the darker aspects are also more visible on places outside of instagram, so it’s kind of a let down that the book barely grazes the surface of how horrible and insidious much of mommy-influencer culture can be.
This book is more about the role of ‘Mom’ as a cultural role than it is about ‘Momfluencers’. While it’s hypercritical of influencers as a concept, there’s not much of a critical eye on ‘good’ influencers. The whole book feels very superficial and fails to go deeper than it really deserves to. Incredibly disappointing.