Tessa Portuese

I wasn't thoroughly convinced by this... It feels like these clean categories of attachment style are used to explain behaviors rather than culture, gender roles, abuse, emotional intelligence, or any other factors that would contribute to relational dynamics.

I'm also begging them to use they/them pronouns instead of repeatedly saying “he or she,” not only would it be more inclusive, it would also read smoother.

Wasn't expecting one of my favorite reads of the year to be a book with no female characters but here we are! My first King book ever and I loved it. It's a simple story with intriguing character dynamics, hints of world building, and enough nuance that our English high school class could add it to its curriculum.

Beautifully written short fiction stories that read as folklore. Full of appreciation for nature and how human nature interacts with it, uses it, and finds meaning in it. One of them in particular has stuck with me for the month since I finished it, which is always a good sign! Weirdly too many stories with big relationship age gaps, though.

Some really good perspective-shifting stuff about primatology and human anatomy that makes you question the status quo is followed by a bizarrely disappointing conclusion. So much of the book is about questioning what we assume is natural about human sexuality due to cultural bias, but the end seems to take male infidelity of the modern day at face value without examining alternate causes (e.g. how societal male socialization limits men from forming platonic emotional bonds) and leaves prior discussion of natural female promiscuity out of a modern lens entirely. Flop ending to an otherwise very interesting read!

Listening to this audiobook while driving really feels like tempting fate...

Went through ups and downs in my opinion of this–at first I was fascinated and dazzled by its novelty, then I grew annoyed with the repetition of phrases, but then I circled back and appreciated it as a textural, atmospheric piece of writing.

I wanted to love this because it might be my favorite book cover ever. Each story is written extremely well to the point of reminding me of literary short stories we studied in English classes, but the book is full of female characters who seem to hate all other women, short story after short story, which gets old.

So well-written (and well-read, since the audiobook is read by Jennette herself). Written in present-tense, the traumas of her childhood experiences are candid and potent, undiluted by commentary of her older self. The later parts of the book are a great look into how much work healing takes.

***Be sure to check TWs because it is a hard read with a lot of potential triggers

Grateful that Angress's writing style is so effectively evocative–the book tackles visual art in a written medium and somehow I have clear mental images of all the characters' different art styles. Also awesome that the author studied at the U of M, which I found out after I checked it out from the library!

Loved this so much! It's gorgeously intersectional, both entertaining and informative. It grapples with the ethics of DNA testing, the history of epigenetics, past beliefs on how genes were passed down, and the spirituality of ancestral healing. If any of these things sound interesting to you, I'd highly recommend.