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analog_gal's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
mahaila's review
5.0
I really enjoyed the stories that subverted the uses of technology.
As a history nerd I appreciated the footnotes that gave more historical context and insight into Metis culture. I think my favourite stories are Metis Man or I Bison, they are the ones I come back to often in my memory. When I was reading this book, I carried it with me everywhere I went.
Thank you very much for writing it.
As a history nerd I appreciated the footnotes that gave more historical context and insight into Metis culture. I think my favourite stories are Metis Man or I Bison, they are the ones I come back to often in my memory. When I was reading this book, I carried it with me everywhere I went.
Thank you very much for writing it.
michy7's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is my favourite book in some time. It's complex and interesting. I'll read this again with equal joy and curiosity. I so enjoy the lack of translated words. The details of day-to day life hit me most. I loved hearing Vowel at York University last year and catching up on her writing makes my day. Inspirational Indigenous futurism
kathleencoughlin's review
challenging
emotional
informative
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
dsak's review
4.0
Much more of an academic approach to Indigenous Futurism than I was expecting, but I appreciated the commentary once I got used to it. Some very intriguing thought experiments, some of which I would love to be able read as a full length novel. I'm not sure which was my favorite, but all of them are going to stick with me.
lesbrary's review
4.0
One of my favourite things about this collection is that the stories include footnotes and are each followed by an essay explaining Vowell’s thought process behind them: “These explorations expand this work beyond creative writing; I am ‘imagining otherwise’ in order find a way to ‘act otherwise.'” While the stories are fiction, there is a lot of research that went into many of them, and the footnotes explain which parts are based in fact and which were changed.
There are also lots of queer stories. In “Buffalo Bird,” the main character and her mother are rougarou, shapeshifters who transform into powerful black mares, and that shift is usually through anger. Angelique and her mother are both criticized for not being sufficiently feminine, especially because Angelique has no interest in marrying a man. Vowell explains that these gender norms and this heterosexism have been enforced through colonialism and that they have “erased and punished fluid sexual orientations and gender identities that existed pre-Contact.”
In another, a queer Indigenous feminist collective co-parent a kid together. And then there’s one with this line, about falling for a woman who’s also a literal fox: “I swear, I’d have done anything to keep her looking at me like that, even if part of me did feel like she was thinking about eating me up. Maybe especially because of that.”
This was a thought-provoking and engaging collection, and I really enjoyed reading the essays to see Vowell’s inspiration and intentions behind each story. I highly recommend this one, and I’m eagerly anticipating whatever Chelsea Vowel writes next.
Full review at the Lesbrary.
There are also lots of queer stories. In “Buffalo Bird,” the main character and her mother are rougarou, shapeshifters who transform into powerful black mares, and that shift is usually through anger. Angelique and her mother are both criticized for not being sufficiently feminine, especially because Angelique has no interest in marrying a man. Vowell explains that these gender norms and this heterosexism have been enforced through colonialism and that they have “erased and punished fluid sexual orientations and gender identities that existed pre-Contact.”
In another, a queer Indigenous feminist collective co-parent a kid together. And then there’s one with this line, about falling for a woman who’s also a literal fox: “I swear, I’d have done anything to keep her looking at me like that, even if part of me did feel like she was thinking about eating me up. Maybe especially because of that.”
This was a thought-provoking and engaging collection, and I really enjoyed reading the essays to see Vowell’s inspiration and intentions behind each story. I highly recommend this one, and I’m eagerly anticipating whatever Chelsea Vowel writes next.
Full review at the Lesbrary.
kait_unicorn's review
3.0
Rating a book of short stories is challenging. Some of these stories I would give five stars to, others four, and a few three.
The footnotes in the first story were distracting and detracted from the worldbuilding, so I stopped reading them. They would have made a good part of the analysis post-story.
I LOVE how the penultimate story brought all the stories together into the same world. A lot of the worldbuilding was reminiscent of N.K.Jemisin’s work, and as a short story collection, it was nearly as satisfying to me as ‘How Long til Black Future Month”
The footnotes in the first story were distracting and detracted from the worldbuilding, so I stopped reading them. They would have made a good part of the analysis post-story.
I LOVE how the penultimate story brought all the stories together into the same world. A lot of the worldbuilding was reminiscent of N.K.Jemisin’s work, and as a short story collection, it was nearly as satisfying to me as ‘How Long til Black Future Month”
ssydneyadamss's review
4.0
This collection was really great! Every story was so unique yet came together to depict such an interesting story. This is a story meant to shift perspectives and because of that it is so important. I would and have been recommending this to everyone I can.