I appreciated the perspectives and ideas brought here. Some essays resonated while others lost me but that’s often to be expected with collections of essays. 

I loved the deeper dive of magical realism as an escape and healing for oppressed & minoritized communities where alternate realities are possible. magical realism about the powerless gaining power, unlocking imagination, and coming together to fight oppression against impossible odds. Villarreal’s unpacking of whiteness and European / western contexts, the co-opting, the genre of fantasy vs magical realism etc in these fields were great. Her examination of identity was strong and I learned a lot about video games, a realm of fantasy I don’t explore but have learned more about as they’re the way my partner engages with the genre.

There were aspects of fantasy vs magical realism I felt aware of but Villarreal articulated the differences so well I felt it in my body. 

✨Fantasy discovers the new world, whereas Magical realism is a world invaded by violence. If fantasy is the literature of world building, then magical realism is the literature that results from world breaking.✨

Another - 

“Magical realism occurs in the post colonial fall out whereas fantasy occurs in the historical context of a first world view, war battles kingdoms etc.” // “Both fantasy and magical realism are fabulation. What separates the two is power.” 🤯

While I’ve always loved the genre of fantasy, stories that stuck more with me were those of what I now understand to be magical realism. 

I also was so enamored by one of the final essays on video games and Viking culture. “Vikings as fantasies of white indigineity supplant the stories of indigenous people” OOF and the rise in Viking culture post Obama and rise of Trump. 

Yall there is so so much I can say about this one. I didn’t even touch on the aspects of music and pop culture. I will continue to think of these essays for a long time and will definitely be buying this book to have a copy of my own.