rachellynnmcguire's review
3.5
Really important perspective. Not the best writing style, though. And kinda awkward at times.
kate_nelson's review
3.0
I enjoyed this book but didn’t love it. This book felt like 50% memoir and 50% advice for polyamorous families, and when I discovered it existed I had really been hoping it was 100% memoir. The writing was simple and easy to understand (a little over-exuberant at times), but I craved more details and context. I did really like the fact that it, as a book about a nonbinary millennial child raised in a polyamorous family who is also polyamorous themselves, featured a story not told frequently.
Fine, but likely not one I will reread.
Fine, but likely not one I will reread.
bigofheartdumbofass's review
funny
informative
fast-paced
3.5
I found this book very enjoyable as a young adult just now exploring polyamory. Koe's vignettes of their childhood and discussions about the logistics of being raised in a polyam family were entertaining and informative. I do wish that there had been more of a sense of flow to the sub-chapters, the only parts that progress in chronological order are Koe's "young adult finding their own identity bit" which tbh I found the least interesting. In addition, Koe both begins and ends the book by saying that in order to forge their own identity they needed to learn to let go of some of the things they learned from their parents -- but never really goes over what those things are in any detail. It's possible that I just missed it, but i feel like if you think this point is important enough to both start and end the book with, you'd want to make it easy to identify.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Bullying and Mental illness
Marijuana use.blackrabbitrun's review
2.0
As a nonbinary, polyamorous millennial I was very much looking forward to this book... but in the end it took me almost two months to drudge through 200 pages, because I just couldn't connect with anything in it, and because the narrative voice is honestly kind of annoying.
Creation alternates between some genuinely helpful and interesting description of their own upbringing with multiple parents - by far the most interesting part of the book - and complaints about how, urgh, I'm having to explain this to the normies again because they don't understand anything about how good and loving and ~*~special~*~ polyamorous families are. The latter half of the book, meanwhile, mainly describes the ongoing identity crisis of a teenager and young adult spectacularly under-equipped for achieving adult emotional independence, which I would've cared more about if I hadn't been so annoyed by that point.
My main takeaways from this book are that the allosexual, alloromantic concept of polyamory is profoundly odd, and that people who repeatedly reference their own geek cred and high intelligence make me want to scream into a pillow, and not in the fun way.
Would recommend for people who want to combine sexually active nonmonogamy with raising a family, with instructions to skip anything past chapter four.
Creation alternates between some genuinely helpful and interesting description of their own upbringing with multiple parents - by far the most interesting part of the book - and complaints about how, urgh, I'm having to explain this to the normies again because they don't understand anything about how good and loving and ~*~special~*~ polyamorous families are. The latter half of the book, meanwhile, mainly describes the ongoing identity crisis of a teenager and young adult spectacularly under-equipped for achieving adult emotional independence, which I would've cared more about if I hadn't been so annoyed by that point.
My main takeaways from this book are that the allosexual, alloromantic concept of polyamory is profoundly odd, and that people who repeatedly reference their own geek cred and high intelligence make me want to scream into a pillow, and not in the fun way.
Would recommend for people who want to combine sexually active nonmonogamy with raising a family, with instructions to skip anything past chapter four.
twirlsandwhirls's review
4.0
This book was a quick read for me, including getting through the second half while doing laundry. It was fun to read the perspective of a child raised in a polyamorous family. There were surprises and things I didn't expect but there were many similarities to how all non-nuclear families operate. one such example is the structure of extended family and a lack of emphasis on biological/paternal lineage. I experienced those, too, in a single-parent home. That said, I disliked how often the author implied that most people live in nuclear families. That's a myth. More of us cobble together our own families and build up connections over time than we get credit for.
I did appreciate the step-by-step advice for strategies to use in raising children in such an environment, pulling from Koe's own upbringing. I loved the vignettes about their life. I honestly would have liked to see more but I appreciated that the book was short and approachable. It was validating to read about another fresh 30-something who struggled financially and in other ways during the previous decade of their life. There's a lot to relate to there.
I did appreciate the step-by-step advice for strategies to use in raising children in such an environment, pulling from Koe's own upbringing. I loved the vignettes about their life. I honestly would have liked to see more but I appreciated that the book was short and approachable. It was validating to read about another fresh 30-something who struggled financially and in other ways during the previous decade of their life. There's a lot to relate to there.
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