autieshawtie's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

So deeply needed and felt. More words later, for now: I am grateful.

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abookwormspov's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

An absolutely stunning and incredibly informative collection of essays. 

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mallyj_20's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75


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novella42's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

This book was too powerful for me to be able to give a coherent review right after finishing it. I will say that as a white disabled queer woman, I am immensely grateful to learn these stories, struggles, and wisdom from QTBIPOC disabled community leaders and visionaries. I think this is the most important book I have read in years.

The essay that made the biggest impact on me from this book is “Not Over It, Not Fixed, and Living a Life Worth Living: Towards an Anti-Ableist Vision of Survivorhood.” It gave me a glimpse of role models who were living and thriving beyond the basic cultural myth that we can be cured/fixed/reset to factory settings after trauma. Not an easy read, but so helpful. 

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tlaynejones's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

This is the best book I’ve read this year. The writing is deeply compassionate thoughtful and challenging. I am grateful to have the opportunity to question and expand many of my long held understandings of the world and of myself. Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha shared her experiences, vulnerability, strengths, and desires with a warm generous relatability. I wish everyone would read this. Highly recommended.

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rionstorm's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.5

There's some really good ideas and concrete resources in this book. There's also some wonderful utopian imagining and goal setting, which feels motivational and helped expand my thinking. 

It reads like a mix of a memoir, academic theory, and a practical guide, which was interesting. I struggled to get through certain sections that felt a little repetitive, or were very hyper-specific to Canada and the USA. The intense, firm narration style makes sense and fits with such vital subject matter, but for me became a bit overwhelming after a while, in the same way listening to a lot of impassioned speeches one after the other can make the words being said start to bounce off you a bit. 

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charlottejones952's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

2.0

I'll admit that I didn't complete the last 2 chapters but this was because of the content. This book is enlightening but tough so I don't know who I'd recommend to. Discussion of care work and ableism were fascinating but the trauma and surviverhood was too blunt and difficult to read for me.

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tinyplanet's review

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emotional reflective slow-paced

3.0


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lily1304's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

I read this to learn more about disability justice, which I did, but I also learned different ways of thinking about caring for myself and others. I definitely want to reread this later.

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jdieperink's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

5.0

It’s been a few days since I finished this and I still can’t quite wrap my hands around what I thought of it other than that I loved it. 

It’s a book that is simultaneously not for me and everything I need. It’s not an introductory text to disability justice but maybe it should be?

Since it is a collection of essays, it is occasionally repetitive but that doesn’t take away from the collection and how loving it is. 

I’ve seen a few other reviews that mention this but this book is not medical advice and I think the author does make sure to cover that, even when it’s more concrete tips. 

CW: abuse, suicide, ableism, misogyny, racism and probably more. Take care of yourself. 

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