abookishwitch's review against another edition
In less than 15 minutes, Seyward uses the n-word with a hard “r” three times. She even reads it in the audiobook version. We are all adults who know what “n-word” means. She did not need to say/write the words especially with the hard “r”. The book would have still made the same points wi TV out her use of the word. White progressive women using this word is unacceptable.
andipants's review against another edition
4.0
Journalists covering topics like this walk a fine line -- too many soft-focus "they're just like us" details and suddenly you're making proponents of literal genocide look warm and fuzzy, but too much distance and broad-strokes description and you end up on a Cletus safari, enlightening no one and just fanning the flames of endless culture war. In general, I don't think we need more humanizing portraits of modern-day Nazis, but I do find Darby's point about white nationalist women, specifically, being overlooked and underestimated fairly compelling. She is correct that on its face, the idea of women avidly supporting an openly misogynistic movement seems ludicrous, but writing them off universally as idiots, liars, and victims of manipulation is misogynistic in and of itself. White women are clearly gaining something from their participation in this ideology, so Darby sets out to discover what that may be.
She meticulously places modern hate movements into historical context, and also discusses how some of their racist talking points have trickled into mainstream discourse, making easy entry points for someone vulnerable to and curious about the topic. She mostly does a very good job of explaining her subjects' thought processes and motivations in a way that makes sense, while still highlighting to readers the inaccuracy of their "facts" and the vast gaps in their logic. Even so, debunking every last racist aside mentioned here would take several books (something she mentions herself at one point), and while on the one hand I want to hand this book to several of my "moderate" acquaintances and tell them "Look! This thing you keep saying and insisting is not racist is literal Nazi propaganda!", on the other hand I'm slightly concerned that some of them might see these ideas and think "Well, I didn't think I was a white supremacist, but these people make some good points." Paranoid on my part, perhaps, but it's certainly a topic that warrants caution.
At any rate, this is a well-researched and important contribution to the discussion about white nationalism that my country so desperately needs to grapple with.
She meticulously places modern hate movements into historical context, and also discusses how some of their racist talking points have trickled into mainstream discourse, making easy entry points for someone vulnerable to and curious about the topic. She mostly does a very good job of explaining her subjects' thought processes and motivations in a way that makes sense, while still highlighting to readers the inaccuracy of their "facts" and the vast gaps in their logic. Even so, debunking every last racist aside mentioned here would take several books (something she mentions herself at one point), and while on the one hand I want to hand this book to several of my "moderate" acquaintances and tell them "Look! This thing you keep saying and insisting is not racist is literal Nazi propaganda!", on the other hand I'm slightly concerned that some of them might see these ideas and think "Well, I didn't think I was a white supremacist, but these people make some good points." Paranoid on my part, perhaps, but it's certainly a topic that warrants caution.
At any rate, this is a well-researched and important contribution to the discussion about white nationalism that my country so desperately needs to grapple with.
veganellewoods's review against another edition
3.0
This is a very interesting book as 3 mini biographies, if unlikely to change anyone's views, and rife with faulty logic. I wasn't a fan of the constant assertion that there is a particular group of interests that women should inherently want (their own liberation, freedom, or economic equality with men) and the implication that these white supremacist women will be unhappy if they actually get what they're fighting for. This seems like a contradiction from another important premise of the book which I do really agree with and think is important.....that women have the capacity to create and do evil, and that fact needs to be taken seriously. Overall the author was very open with her biases and I'm glad I read this
alessandralyman's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0