#Book critic

[yourdailyqueer]

Virginia Mathews (deceased)

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Lesbian

DOB: 9 March 1925 

RIP: 7 May 2011

Ethnicity: Native American (Osage Nation)

Occupation: Writer, activist, librarian, book critic

Note: Helped develop Sesame Street while serving as a consultant to Children's Television Workshop, and she promoted activities to support literacy through libraries.

[livingfictionsystem]

2.5 stars. Spoilers below.

The 'What if Peter Pan was evil?' concept is hardly new. In fact, it's essentially canon. But I decided to give this one a go since 'The Child Thief' was such an objective waste time. This was... fine. It's certainly a story and it certainly does have that premise, coming from who would grow up to be Captain Hook. And, compared to 'The Child Thief', it was an improvement.

But that isn't saying much.

Alright, so it's one of those that beat you senselessly over the head with certain concepts. 'Peter promised we would be friends forever and for always. Peter lies.' 'Peter doesn't care what happens to the rest of the boys, I do.' 'Being a boy and being a man are different.' If you read those lines, congratulations, you've now read at least 40% of the book. You understand that the story is setting the scene for the narrator, Jamie, to break ties with Peter, but then you discover that 'setting the scene' is easily 90% of the damned novel.

It's set in the very first chapters that Peter is a malicious spirit who considers the death of the boys 'all part of playing his game.' At the very start, Jamie resented this. So, then it falls into the predictable pattern of, 'Peter did this, a boy was hurt and/or died, Jamie rethinks his friendship with Peter.' 'Peter was manipulative, a boy was hurt and/or died, Jamie reconsiders his loyalty to Peter' 'Peter did this, a boy died, Jamie thinks about leaving him.' Over and over and over and over. Though it is accurately representative of what an abusive friendship can be like when someone else holds all of the power, we gET THE POINT.

And after there's a huge confrontation, Jamie runs off to join the pirates at the end and that's about as vague as an ending as is had. I enjoyed the narrative that Hook is essentially cursed to be there to be the eternal unwilling playmate to Peter, but there was a lot of potential lost with the pirates. How did the pirates react when Jamie switched sides? How did he become Captain? Why didn't Jamie try to recruit the subsequent Lost Boys, but instead, contemplated shooting them out of the sky with a canon? Where did the original pirates even come from? Were they all Lost Boys grown up? It's vaguely implied that Jamie wasn't the first Lost-Boy-Turned-Pirate, but what happened with the others?

The book has a lot of tragedy, but none that are too easy to connect to. Whether it's the primary-school aged boys dropping like flies, or the amount of times the humourless and dull narrator Jamie loses someone before he finally gets homicidal about it, it's impressive that this book makes children killing each other redundant.

Peter needed nuance other than being homicidal intent wrapped up in a child's packaging. And there were some scenes or rules that were never explained, like; why does he hate girls in this book but in none of the other canon? Does Tink not count?

The very last line in the book is 'I hate Peter Pan.' Which, honestly, about wins it for anti-climactic conclusions.

Or perhaps I'm just a jaded adult and I need pixies to sprinkle me with dust; who knows?

-Xanthe 🪶

[kjudgemental]

The Three-Body Problem - Science-Fiction Novel Review

Author: Cixin Liu (translated by Ken Liu) Publisher: Head of Zeus (US publisher) Country: China Year: 2014 (orig 2006) The first in a trilogy. When it got translated into English a decade ago, it won the Hugo Award for best novel, making Liu the first Asian writer to claim the prize. In the past few years, author Cixin Liu’s remarks have come under fire. Very much pro Chinese government,…

[walking-the-velvet-green]

Started reading circe by Madeline Miller... And so far I must say I'm not impressed. I mean it's imo a weird choice to make circe, who is by all means a very powerful sorceress, the first person narrator and make her actually tell her story as if she is ashamed of it? Also the way she over explains everything.... It robs of the mystic feeling those myths do have. Idk I feel like if you really know nothing about Greek myths and never read one it can be entertaining but other than that so far I can't really understand the hype....

Let's see I'll keep reading and will give a detailed review at the end. (im just already glad I only lent it tbh 😅)

[walking-the-velvet-green]

This is what actually bothered me about "a little life" .... I mentioned I read it a while ago, and while the main character Jude is not a all a bad person, the whole synopsis of the book seems to be: you're life was fucked up from the start. Every terrible thing that exists happened to you. And while yes, being deeply traumatized interferes with one's adult life, especially when it comes to friendships and relationships, it's just in my opinion not a good message the author displays. If you haven't read it, in short, after being abused during his childhood and teenage phase, Jude makes it into college where he meets people who unconditionally care for him. No matter how recluse or shy or whatever he is - they never leave him throughout his life. He even gets adopted when he's around thirty. All the while these people's life's circle around him, they care for him and support him. But he won't do the one thing that would help him: go to therapy and try to leave the past behind once and for all. He thinks he's fucked up and it's too late. It isn't though in real life. But the book agrees with this narrative because in the end, all loving is in vain. Everything he accomplished is nothing because he accomplished it. The only solution he can find is to kill himself. And though I know that it is characteristic for this book, it makes me so incredibly angry. Especially since it is such a known book, I feel like you shouldn't read it, if you are like me and hate narratives of hopelessness and love being in vain. (also don't read it when you're prone to depression. I am not depressed but this book nearly made me)

I realized also why I cried while I read it. I was not sad, I was angry.

the concept and idea of “you can always start trying to be a better person” is extremely important to me both in media and irl and i continue to be deeply deeply disturbed by the trend on this site pushing that these ideas in media are bad writing or even morally reprehensible

because theyd rather someone stay terrible or just straight up die than become a better person 

from a compassionate point of view it’s deeply distressing and from a pragmatic point of view it’s outright frustrating

it’s fucked up. 

[shyjusticewarrior]

At some point "fanfic can be as good as professional writing" became "fanfic should be as good as professional writing" and that's caused major damage to fandom spaces.

[littlefankingdom]

Bruce died(?) again

Jason: Well, it's my turn.

Dick: What are you talking about?

Jason: Everytime Bruce is gone, one of you starts to act just like him, pushing everyone away, acting as only you can be right, and fighting anyone that gets in your way. Dick did it, Tim did it, even Cass kind of did it. So, this time, I will do it.

Tim: Isn't that how you act all the time?

Jason: Whoa, fuck you. You are so banned from historical drama movie nights.

[oposssumsaucee]

Listen All Systems Red is so so funny from Gurathins perspective imagine you grew up with Space Socialism and was hired to go help some pal with science but you weren't allowed to go unless you rented AmaTeslas Torment Nexus Alexa Dot and then when you get there you find out a whole continent of people got annihilated by their Tourment Nexus rentals so you take a moment to check yours quickly and find out it already had disengaged its Don't Kill People box, the only thing you've ever been told prevented them from mass homiciding their clients, something that LITERALLY just happened to people you knew a day ago, and when you say to your fellow socialist doctors HEY I think our Tourment Nexus is fucked up and it's files said it killed dozens of people barely a year ago and we should probably get the hell away from it the same doctors are like look at what you're saying. You're hurting the Tourment Nexus' feelings. The Tourment Nexus is just a little construct who likes Netflix Gurathin stop antagonizing it on the plane ride.

[bi-dykes]

YA novel covers

[thetransfemininereview]

Hello my wonderful followers, please signal boost the hell out of this incredible and timely piece by Maya Deane and Kai Cheng Thom. Thank you 🩷

[livingfictionsystem]

Book Review: "One of Us is Lying" by Karen McManus

I absolutely did *not* expect to like this novel as much as I did. So, the premise is that the owner of a life-ruining rumor website dies suddenly in high school. He just happened to be in detention with four other students that he was about to post about. Everything's fishy and points to murder from the beginning and the question is: Who did it, and what did they have to hide? When I first cracked this open and realized that the first-person POV went back and forth between the four suspects, I was like, "Really?" I thought it was a lapse of fictional judgment, but McManus is a master of hiding plot twists and subverting expectations even when you're directly in the character's head. That in itself is impressive. Think of if 'Breakfast Club' was written in 2017. That's not saying anything ground-breaking, it compares itself to that within the description. But no pretty goth girl gets an unfortunate makeover. You've got some good queer rep in there and a great discussion on how gossip, violation of privacy, and the media can ruin the lives of good people who made a bad mistake. The first quarter or so is a little difficult. While it's introducing everyone, it can be rough to keep track of each of 'The Four's' individual circles and backstories and it does seem to switch around a lot, but I didn't find it too distracting. The reveal wasn't too obvious, probably in my top three or four guesses, but the secrets unraveling around it were a complete surprise. I also did not expect how deeply invested I would get into everyone. Every character is exceedingly well-written and believable, and it gets almost heart-warming how everyone in 'The Murder Club' works together to figure this all out. My only real complaint is that the main reveal didn't take too much investigation. From the time the characters start trying to get to the bottom of it and stop flinching away from the potential consequences, there's probably only three phases of questioning people to figure it out. This didn't stop me from actually tensing, gasping, and racing to the next page to see what'd happen next.

It's a 9/10 from me. -RH

Trigger warnings for: Alcoholism, drug use, suicide, homophobia, mental illness, and an abusive relationship. 

[kjudgemental]

Valis: Classic Sci-fi Novel Review

Author: Philip K. Dick Publisher: Bantam Books (Gollancz, my copy) Country: USA Year: 1981 (2001, my copy) Valis is a uniquely strange novel in that it’s only partially fictional. And even that is only half fictional itself. Inspired largely by author Philip K. Dick’s own mental breakdown in 1974, it largely concerns itself with Horselover Fat, a split personality persona of the narrator (who…

[ghelgheli]

Often when trans women ask me when I'm performing next, and I tell them that it's a queer/trans event, they will tell me that they'd rather not go because they do not feel comfortable or safe in those spaces, that they have been dismissed or belittled at such events before. Even trans women who are dyke- or bisexual- identified often don't feel welcome or relevant in queer/trans spaces. And whenever a trans woman or ally points out aspects about the queer/ trans community that contribute to these feelings of irrelevancy and disrespect—such as the way our community coddles those who support trans-woman-exclusionist events or who make trans-misogynistic comments—we are described as being "divisive." This use of the word "divisive" is particularly telling, as it implies that "queer/trans" represents a uniform movement or community—a "oneness"—rather than an alliance where all voices are respected.

Julia Serano, Whipping Girl. Published 2007.

[cheekios]

Last Cartridge of Insulin

This is an URGENT REQUEST as I cannot go a day without insulin. Currently I am unemployed through no fault of my own. I do not have insurance so I will have to use GoodRx. My insulin is called Afrezza. It costs around $450-$490 depending on the pharmacy I go to.

Goal: $450

CA: $HushEmu

PP: emuslayter@gmail.com

Currently I cannot drive because my only pair of perscription glasses are broken. So I will also need help with ubers. Please.

I’d like to stress that not taking insulin daily is deadly. This is a medical emergency. Begging for this request to be filled.

Informative read:

https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/type-1-diabetes/how-long-can-a-diabetic-go-without-insulin

[shyjusticewarrior]

Two things can be and are true at once.

Robin Jason was a sweet, kind kid who cared about victims. He also had righteous rage and violent tendencies towards those he thought deserved it.

Being Robin gave him magic and as Robin he shattered a man's collarbone with no remorse.

[shanalikeanna]

Okay anon you got me haha, I love this too much not to post.

I just started reading One Piece, and I haven’t met Law yet. But Rachel told me that him and Chopper have something in common and this is my own personal headcanon.