nataliaalbin's reviews
174 reviews

This book feels a bit like the way the war feels for its main character. It starts slowly and simply but before you realise it, you're deeply entranced by it all. Part of its strength lies in the fact that the Bosnian War is not a topic that is particularly well covered by media, so it is different from the start. But it's also a take on war that isn't necessarily written about a lot. As we follow Zora, we realise she is not "special" or "chosen" in the ways that a lot of war stories treat their characters. In fact, she is normally unaware of what is happening - the war is a surprise, and she seems to be the last to find out about a lot of things:

the rescue vehicles, the fire, the water or electricity being turned off, etc.

She is surviving, she is not involved in the politics of war. It's how she survives that makes her interesting to read: through art.

At its core, Black Butterflies is about the art's ability to help us survive during times of upheaval. In the darkest moments, art disappears. It's when we find the hope to create that we know we are alive. That is survival. Priscilla Morris was clear on this being the intent of the book from the first pages, which means that message isn't muddled within unnecessary trauma or suffering. It's a harrowing book about the terrors of war, but the thread of hope is always beneath.

Bluets by Maggie Nelson

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emotional funny reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

5.0

I am sure this is a book I will find myself coming back to at separate point in my life. It's likely also I book I will gift other people. Somehow, Maggie Nelson manages to write about heartbreak, illness and depression in a way that makes them seem both infinite (the way we feel as we go through it) and passing (the way we wish we felt).

Nelson takes blue as an allegory for joy and sadness. It's an exploration on how sometimes the best way to deal with any kind of strong feeling is to see it as something outside of yourself. She is obsessed with blue and, in that obsession, she can't get away from it - sees it everywhere, in all of its forms and representations at once. As a violent colour, a joyful colour, a colour drained of light and reflective of it all at once.

There are almost too many nuances and notes to make about the thoughts depicted so poetically by Nelson here, but perhaps the most important is this: it's about the "fundamental impermanence of all things". Blue fades, sometimes without purpose. Words fade, sometimes without purpose. Sometimes feelings simply are. They don't need to be because of something, they don't need to help you do anything. It's a book about learning how to be for the sake of being.

Content Warnings

Just Kids by Patti Smith

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hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I have no doubt this book has changed the way I look at the world. Patti's constant optimism, the way she can be a romantic while being so wholly self-aware and, most of all, her love for others is inspiring to say the least. For aspiring artists, this book is no doubt a self-assuring bible. But its core and heart is the love story of a friendship that most of us could only wish to have. The most definitve 5 stars I have given in a long time.

Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power by Jude Ellison S. Doyle

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challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.25

People Person by Candice Carty-Williams

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emotional inspiring sad 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? Yes

3.0

Know My Name: The Survivor of the Stanford Sexual Assault Case Tells Her Story by Chanel Miller

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inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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nataliaalbin's reviews 174 reviews

nataliaalbin's reviews
174 reviews