jrayereads's reviews
429 reviews

 

I came at this book from a few different perspectives. The first is as an avid reader and book reviewer, the second is as someone who is currently working on an MA in art history, and lastly as someone who has previously been VERY invested in online fandom culture and who has, when I’m feeling a little toxic, argued with people on Twitter about ethical media consumption. Overall, if you’re the kind of person that feels conflicted about consuming art made by people who have done terrible things, this book is worth reading. I think Dederer’s thoughts were interesting enough to engage with, even if there didn’t seem to be a core argument she was making either way. Ultimately she’s leaving this dilemma up to the individual audience member to make their own decision, but the conversations she had along the way made me personally feel validated in my own concerns and helped me clarify my own confusion in some areas.

I’m not too convinced that chapters 9 and 10 had a place here - the discussion around how female artists are perceived as monstrous for things that we typically assume is a given for male artists (primarily, “abandoning” their kids in pursuit of their art) was a worthwhile point to make, but there was so much there that it really could have been its own book or article. I get that this was her point, but comparing women who “abandoned” their kids to rapists and bigots felt like a detraction from her thesis, which was: how do we approach art made by monstrous people? These women are not monsters even if they were perceived as such by misogynists, so it felt like a different conversation was being had.

Also, just as a side note, to the folks who are complaining about the inclusion of J.K. Rowling alongside the likes of Roman Polanski and Woody Allen, you are deeply out of touch and you’ve revealed yourself to be a TERF, just like Rowling is. J.K. Rowling’s loud and unrelenting transphobia contributes to the ongoing hostility and violence that trans people experience on a daily basis. She uses the money that YOU give her, by continuing to support her work, to fund organizations that actively want to harm trans folks. She is a monster in every sense of the word. Enjoy the nostalgia of the Harry Potter franchise all you want, but don’t come here and try to defend her actions.

 

 

Yeah, this is the best YA series that I’ve read in a long time. Raybearer will probably be in my top reads of the year. This is an excellent sequel that wraps everything up beautifully. I do think that Raybearer was a tighter and better paced story. This one had some issues with meandering through certain subplots and rushing through others. I would’ve loved to see more time fleshing out the underworld. I personally wanted more time with Sanjeet and Dayo just because I loved them so much. But ultimately Tarisai is the core of the story and her development and growth were masterfully done and her arc was SO satisfying to watch. Ifueko also expanded on the worldbuilding a lot in this one, incorporating rulers from across Aristar and confronting Tarisai with the reality of being a ruler. Her compassion and cunning makes her such a lovable and realistic protagonist and this book cemented her as one of my favorite female protagonists of all time. 

Seriously - read this.

 

 

This was a super quick read with concise, punchy writing. I thought the translation was really well done and I liked Yunjae as the protagonist. I enjoyed watching him try to connect with others and understand the world around him. Though I liked the protagonist, I didn’t feel connected to the other characters. Others have said this as well but I didn’t really understand the implementation of Dora in the narrative. I enjoyed Yunjae’s dynamic with Gon and would’ve liked to see more development there. I feel like the ending undermined Yunjae’s journey and the overall themes of the book. 

I understand why other people enjoyed this, it just ended up not being for me.