carleesi's reviews
736 reviews

Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum by Jennifer Cook O'Toole

3.75

I enjoyed listening to Jennifer’s story, it’s always powerful for me to fill my life with different experiences of neurodivergence (because aren’t they all sooooo different?)

It’s interesting seeing the generational differences between my experiences and Jennifer’s, as well as having two parents who raised me so gently (before gentle parenting even existed) that the gaslighting side of social experiences of neurodivergence are much less prominent for me. That’s not to say socialising has been all roses and puppies for me, but I still trust instincts and present events to others when they don’t feel right to me and I can’t identify why. It’s hard to hear how much more difficult it’s been for Jennifer after being made to doubt those instincts for so long.

I think the book would have benefited a lot from consulting with some fat activists when discussing ED & weight loss (eg, never mention actual weight! Don’t say how many pounds you lost or what weight you were. This can give people “goals” and is really dangerous. Just saying “severely underweight” would be enough).

I must admit it’s hard to read Jennifer talking about the difficulties involved in being societally perceived as “hot” because it often feels like she ignores so many of the benefits of pretty privilege. This could be the mind blindness she often talks about and I’m in no way insinuating she’s a bad person or that she’s lying about the difficulties she’s face - I’m very sure being attractive adds a layer to the autism experience that I haven’t encountered. As a fat autistic woman it just felt a bit isolating and diminishing. Obviously the issue is sexism and diet culture in general, but it often felt like Jennifer drew the line between sexism and being hot and autism and stopped there.

The one case where this is particularly egregious is when Jennifer compares her plight as a pretty white woman to that of Sojourner Truth. I get the message behind what she was saying but that felt like a problematic way to make that point.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

5.0

I just love these books. The world building is absolutely amazing. Sometimes I would lose track of which world I was in and feel like it’s a normal occurrence for bad luck to be the faeries fault.

I really enjoy the characters and their arcs, the descriptions of nature, faeries, magic, all of it. Delightful books. So bummed I have to wait for number 3!

All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison

3.0

Having never delved into the comics before it’s interesting to see some of the lore around Superman. I felt I was missing some needed background info sometimes but it was still an interesting read.

What I can’t get on board with is the sexism, transphobia, fatphobia & ableism (to name a few). 

Me and White Supremacy: How to Recognise Your Privilege, Combat Racism and Change the World by Layla F. Saad

4.0

I found the guided journaling a really good exercise. The questions were written so that people anywhere on their anti-racism journey could engage and do some self reflection.

As Layla recommended I think I would have got a lot more from this process in a book club or discussion group (alas my book club collapsed and I wanted to put the effort into finishing this book anyway). 

Feels like a powerful tool to come back to in the future or after making a mistake and being able to go to the relevant chapter to reflect and continue to grow.

I think that a lot of the chapters questions were so focused on “a time you did something wrong” I realised I had to structure it for myself to also have more looking forward from those moments, eg how would I ideally have been in that situation now? How do I aim to react moving forward?

Em & Me by Beth Morrey
Did not finish book. Stopped at 53%.

Just not for me. I wasn’t drawn to keep reading and I hated the energy of everything going wrong when she was just starting to take chances.

I found it super off putting when Delphine and the narrative just breezes past Em talking about being manipulative as if it was like cute and good… Plus taking Letty’s book??? What????

RedHanded: An Exploration of Criminals, Cannibals, Cults, and What Makes a Killer Tick by Suruthi Bala, Hannah Maguire

3.75

Really enjoy the perspective and energy of the authors. A bit too much gore/grizzly detail for me though.

Perfectly Pegasus by Jessie Sima

5.0

Beautiful story. I want to frame all of the illustrations, so gorgeous.

Somebody's Land by Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing

4.5

Country by Aunty Fay Muir

5.0

Beautiful artwork

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

5.0

Autistic protagonist ✔️
Amazing world building ✔️
Perfectly balanced romance ✔️
Joyful, silly, fun and well defined characters ✔️

Goddamn I loooooove this book