hmatt's review against another edition
4.0
I'd say both this and Jill Gutowitz's Girls Can Kiss Now share similar highlights and pitfalls for me, though I personally enjoyed this one more. I appreciated the additional "academic" edge to these essays - that is, the author makes more space to explain the historical and culture context behind each pop culture phenomenon, and she cites her sources more clearly (I read Gutowitz's in audio, though, and some of that could have been omitted due to format). IMO, the added context makes more space in the work for folks who are reading outside of their own experience (i.e. it doesn't feel as much like the author is writing inside jokes for those "in the know"). I did still feel a bit alienated by some of the sweeping generalizations made in these essays, but I think that comes with the territory of reading such a narrow perspective.
One standout difference in the two collections is Perry's near-seamless weaving of her own personal experiences into the "theme" of each essay. I felt that almost all of the autobiographical portions of this essay collection served a purpose, and the collection itself was organized more masterfully than Gutowitz's.
I'm only a little sorry that this review is framed entirely as a comparison because, hello, they are literally the same book concept published within a year of one another.
Anyway here's the funniest line in the book (re: watching shady online streams of queer shows in the pre-Netflix era):
My thirst could weather all buffering.
Graphic: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Outing, and Sexism
Minor: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Death, and Sexual content
bryelle's review against another edition
3.5
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Death
rorikae's review against another edition
4.25
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and learning more about Perry. As someone who grew up during the early 2000s and is close in age to Perry, I knew most of the pieces of culture that Perry talks about in her essays. Contemporary culture is investigated less in essay collections than older pieces of culture and so it was refreshing to read about television shows, celebrities, and music that I have a personal connection with. I highly recommend this collection, especially if you are someone who grew up in the 2000s and has a personal connection to these pieces of popular culture.
Moderate: Death, Cancer, and Homophobia
courtneyfalling's review
4.0
Spoiler
Also, I do want to know if Claire okayed this story... like did she end up coming out years later? Even if not, did she proofread the chapter where she appears to make sure no heavy, unwanted identifying information was present? Did/does she even know this story including her is out there? This comes back to a larger discussion of the ethics of writing nonfiction, in the era of Kidney Girl, but I had to think about this.Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Cancer, and Death
Minor: Sexual content
autozone's review
4.25
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual assault
reading_between_the_trees's review
5.0
Some highlights of the book were Perry's description of the layered closet, where she describes the various stages of coming out to yourself and then to others. Other great chapters were the one connecting the Taylor Swift songwriting framework to U-haul Dyke culture, the one absolutely calling out JKR for her half-assed admission of Dumbledore being gay, and the entire chapter on Disney's attempt to just take the parts they wanted from queerness for their characters.
But my favorite part of the book was where Perry flips the quintessential gay question "do I want to be them or be with them?" from a realization of your sexuality to a realization of your gender: "do I want to be with them or do I want to be them?". Reading that was a "aha moment" for me in understanding my own sexuality. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who was conscious for even part of the 2000s. Whether you're queer or not, this will give you a whole new look at some very familiar media from that time.
Graphic: Homophobia and Biphobia
Moderate: Death, Cancer, and Medical content
readalongwithnat's review
4.0
Moderate: Cancer and Death
leahlovesloslibros's review
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Cursing, and Sexism
Minor: Medical content, Drug use, Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
TW/CW: full chapter about Harry Potter, incarceration, divorce, underage drinking, gay slurs, homophobia (internalized and externalized)mallory10100's review
4.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Biphobia, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Cursing and Death
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual violence, and Suicide
i loved this book. at some points it felt like grace literally peeked inside my own brain. however i wish she used the D slur a lot less (yet i understand that it’s an a reclaimed fashion)spaghettireads's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Biphobia
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Cancer, Death, and Medical content