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justasking27's review against another edition
2.5
Moderate: Alcoholism, Self harm, and Sexual assault
ciararenaud's review
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Classism
readerette's review against another edition
4.0
I found this an intriguing rumination on identity and how it develops, though as a Midwesterner, I don't agree with most of the generalizations the author makes about Midwesterners. I do believe those generalizations are how people outside the Midwest often think of us, but I don't believe they're factually true or that most Midwesterners consider them true.
Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, and Dysphoria
sandphin's review
4.5
Moderate: Alcoholism and Self harm
Minor: Domestic abuse
balladofreadingqueer's review
3.5
The essays have a very particular perspective but I found points of connection and comparison with my own experiences throughout.
Many of the essays centre the Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, and the ways that she both belongs and does not belong, the landscape, tornados and gun ownership.
I particularly appreciated the essays that examine and probe her difficult relationship to the lgbtq community as a ‘visibly queer’ woman in a relationship with a man, as she seems to feel disconnected from queerness and queer community. The essays also discuss bdsm, self-harm, academia, moths, gun ownership, polyamory, gender identity, motherhood and more.
I wish that there had been more acknowledgement of her ‘social location’ in some essays and I found some of the essays repetitive as they discussed similar feelings or scenarios. But I did find it interesting and useful to consider white midwestern queerness from her perspective.
Moderate: Alcoholism and Self harm
katsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
"I wonder, sometimes, if I believed in God, would I still feel so afraid?"
"In a small midwestern town, darkness gets buried like a secret."
"So often, though, the things we hope to be true about ourselves and the things we really want are incongruous."
"...bucking a traditional system is never easy."
"It takes a great deal of privilege--by way of money, education, and access--to live within one's ideals."
"...there are no good guys or bad guys. There is only us."
I really enjoyed this collection of essays. Faliveno's writing was really amazing. I liked how the essays were split up into sections. The sections made it easy to pause when I needed to since the essay's were a little longer than I liked. I also liked how the different sections tied together larger themes within each essay, however, sometimes the sections could be a little disjointed. I expected these essays to focus more on gender and sexuality, and while that is definitely a large focus of many of the essays, they explore much more than that. I identified with a lot of the author's conversation on what it's like to grow up as a woman in the Midwest. In addition to midwestern culture, gender and sexuality, the text also explored themes like motherhood, grief, cultural expectations, gun culture and one essay about moths that, I have to admit, I didn't quite understand.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Pedophilia and Abortion
ashlyn's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, and Abortion
mariahsnerdynotes's review
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Sexual assault, and Grief
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Abortion