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sareasley's review against another edition
4.0
This book is so raw, so honest, that it hurts to read. But this line, I think, is the real heart of the matter, the reason we need to expose ourselves to the uncomfortable truths about the way different people move through the world: "It was a moment when I understood that all of us have to be more considerate of the realities of the bodies of others."
brewtenant_dan's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful writing and refreshing point of view. I teach excerpts of this during the memoir unit of my creative writing class in high school and the students respond very well. This book succeeds all around and embodies a strong ethos. And despite the content, the book does not give off a "woe is me," vibe. Well done.
drealorr's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
sapphirestars's review against another edition
5.0
Super powerful + raw memoir. Love the writing style.
katie0528's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
A beautiful, heartbeaking story of Roxanne Gay's relationship with herself and her body. Gay explores her painful, often contridictory attitudes toward her body and how she is able to, or oftentimes UNable to, move through the world as a fat, Black, queer woman. I'm huge fan of Aubrey Gordon's work and she shouted out this book specifically, and it was disheartening to learn how much of Gay and Gordon's lives as fat women are the same and how the world tries to exclude them or shame them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail
emalazereth's review against another edition
My favorite chapters from this book were chapters 46, 53, and 84.
46 was about her hatred of exercise
53 was about her tattoos
84 was about the thing she will always carry
This book was easy to comprehend but not an easy read. Roxane Gay's memoir goes into intricate details of many things that should be discussed and things that she found necessary to share. This was the first Our Shared Shelf' book I got to read and I was very impressed by this month's choice. Roxane Gay's book was absolutely phenomenal.
46 was about her hatred of exercise
53 was about her tattoos
84 was about the thing she will always carry
This book was easy to comprehend but not an easy read. Roxane Gay's memoir goes into intricate details of many things that should be discussed and things that she found necessary to share. This was the first Our Shared Shelf' book I got to read and I was very impressed by this month's choice. Roxane Gay's book was absolutely phenomenal.