An excellent read. What can I say? It gets you thinking, that's important.
edited to add to the review on April 4th:
It also gets you working. That's even more important.
Reviews and Comments
Olen 31-vuotias lukija ja kirjoittaja Kainuusta.
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Naava rated Celtic gods and heroes: 3 stars
Naava rated Please Don't Go Before I Get Better: 3 stars
Naava rated Almost Home: 3 stars
Naava rated A Book of Pagan Prayer: 3 stars
Naava rated Lakewood : a novel: 3 stars
Lakewood : a novel by Megan Giddings
A startling debut about class and race, Lakewood evokes a terrifying world of medical experimentation—part The Handmaid’s Tale, part The …
Naava rated Psychic Witch: 4 stars
Naava rated Queering Your Craft: 4 stars
Naava rated Indie Games: 3 stars
Naava reviewed Poetry for Young People by Alfred Lord Tennyson
A brief profile of the nineteenth century English poet, Alfred Tennyson, accompanies selections from some …
Review of 'Poetry for Young People' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Naava rated Pagan Portals - Loki: 4 stars
Naava reviewed The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
"Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. …
Review of 'The Body Is Not an Apology' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I received the Second Edition of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
I first considered starting this review with the words "I'm not sure if I'm in the target audience for this book as I'm a White person living in a predominantly White country and predominantly White social circles" but then I realized: that is exactly why I should be reading this book. My social circles in real life might be 100 % White, but online, things are different. And I have some learning to do! I might have battled and fought and partially won learnt racism a decade ago, but as long as I say "partially", there's still learning to do. And another thing — this book isn't solely about race and racism. It's more about the intersection of multiple non-default bodies. I might exist in a fat body, but there's still …
I received the Second Edition of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
I first considered starting this review with the words "I'm not sure if I'm in the target audience for this book as I'm a White person living in a predominantly White country and predominantly White social circles" but then I realized: that is exactly why I should be reading this book. My social circles in real life might be 100 % White, but online, things are different. And I have some learning to do! I might have battled and fought and partially won learnt racism a decade ago, but as long as I say "partially", there's still learning to do. And another thing — this book isn't solely about race and racism. It's more about the intersection of multiple non-default bodies. I might exist in a fat body, but there's still learnig to do. I might exist as a nonbinary person in a body that others are keen on gendering, and oh boy there is still learning to do.
The book should have more solid scientific information about how exactly body hatred impacts our lives and well-being. I don't know if there are studies about that, though. Thorough long-term studies. I want them.
The book goes through how to start dismantling your learnt hatred of certain kinds of bodies (fat, trans, Black, etc, or any combination of identities/bodies). I found them to be rather useful, but a part of me wanted to read about people who'd fought (and won or were in the middle of fighting) learnt hatred and prejudices. Now, that might be out of the scope of this book, but seriously. It would give so much hope for the future if there was a book that had interviews of people who used to be -phobic but have embarked on the journey of battling that learnt phobia or hatred or prejudices. I know we're out there, and I know some of us aren't afraid of sharing our stories.
All in all, I found the book... well, a part of me wants to say "enjoyable", but facing your shadows and dissociating while reading isn't enjoyable. But sometimes it's necessary. I have therapy coming in three days, I know I'll have something to discuss...
I wanted more, though. More something. I don't know...
Naava rated Modern Witchcraft Guide to Magickal Herbs: 3 stars
Naava rated Tarot Shadow Work: 3 stars
Naava reviewed The Modern Witchcraft Book of Tarot by Skye Alexander
Review of 'The Modern Witchcraft Book of Tarot' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
So very cishetnormative, so very binaristic (is that a word? it is now). We're not all binary cishets.
Some card meanings introduced made my eyebrows shoot high up on my (admittedly high) forehead, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We all interpret things differently. Some meanings shed light to cards that I had had difficulties with.