clownface's reviews
77 reviews

Didn't endorse the blatant transphobia.

Some chapters were a lot better than others. The transistor radio chapter, the surfing chapter, the chapters on Australia were all great; everything else was either meh or a complete slog. 

Also, saying this book is about the Pacific as a whole is a little disingenuous. Pacific Latin America was almost entirely ignored, as was Indonesia, New Zealand, and several other island nations. 

the last few chapters are a little sparse, but overall really interesting and informative

brutal (in a good way)

the sections on ancient history are, i think, better than the sections on more recent history - the precolumbian pandemics were especially glossed-over, it felt - but i really, really enjoyed this book regardless <3

an interesting reimagining of the first-wave feminist sci-fi "women's utopia" subgenre. the plot is a little threadbare for me but it's mostly a story focused on worldbuilding/character so i get it

outside of some (minor) weird misinfo/political misgivings about the USSR, this is a really stunning book with a lot of interesting connections. i don't read much economics and this is a really good primer for econ for the humanities girlies out there. plus aja raden has a very infectious writing style - very mary roachian 

Informative but very, unengagingly at times, dry

really good examination of what little information we have on this topic, with appropriate levels of conjecture where needed to humanize the people in question :-)

really good concept which ended up carrying the book, most of the characters were uninteresting though and it went on too long