sophiesometimesreads's reviews
256 reviews

So unserious but so funny and a fun time. Read in the omnibus version, but marking as read so I can keep up with where in this mammoth series I am. Read Dec 2024.

The found family in this is DIVINE. Vera was hilarious and I loved the other characters. I guessed the culprit early on and clocked into the clues the author left regarding who it was, but I think it was done well and I did truly question myself as to whether others were responsible. There was even an extra twist regarding said culprit that I didn't see coming either. I will definitely be reading the next one!

The topic matter and the story itself hit me really hard. It's so devastating and infuriating that this happened to people not even a hundred years ago. I liked how it was written in narrative prose but the writing was a little clunky at times and I did wonder how much was real, written from verbal storytelling, and how much was filled in by the author. A very important read that I think is essential for all Australians, particulalry white Australians, despite any opinions one may have on the technical side of the book.

I had some mixed feelings about this book. The start intrigued me and I found some parts funny, but I think it lost a bit of momentum in the second half, and I wanted more from the ending. 

I think this would've been better written in first person, because I felt like we got a lot of Elizabeth's opinions and thoughts and, in my opinion, this works better in first person POV as it in third person makes it feel like the author is preaching the ideas that some characters may hold. This meant these thoughts sometimes felt a bit off in the context of this story, particulalry regarding religion (coming from someone who isn't religious at all) and some of the body image/fatshaming.

I also felt we didn't get enough nuance on a lot of topics in here. Sexism and the potential of women outside being housewives was covered a lot as it was the primary focus of the book, but we touched on things like pedophilia and sexual assault and didn't come back around to the true impact on the characters and within society. There was a lot of trauma for the characters in this too that wasn't explored as deeply as I would have liked, and ended up feeling like trauma just for the plot.

Like I said, I enjoyed the first half and I laughed at moments throughout the novel, particulalry in some moments where Elizabeth had no filter and said exactly what I was thinking. I could look past some of the unrealistic features of the story to enjoy it as it was happening, but it did feel a bit contemporary at times and the storyline is not always the most realistic. What this book did well, it really did well, but it fell down in some areas for me.

What did I just read?! This book out me through the ringer and I had SO MANY EMOTIONS. You KNOW a book is good and the stakes are high when I binged the last 170 pages in a day.

Like the first, this book isn't going to be for everyone. There's a lot of planning, a lot of political talk, and, particulalry in this book compared to the first, there's a lot of focus on the characters and the decisions they need to make. But, in saying this, this book was for me.

I loved the intricacy of the world and how Fonda Lee was so detailed in the dynamics and interactions between the characters and the countries, it felt so real and I loved learning all the details. The characters were so complex and I had so many emotions over them, both positive and negative. I loved how Fonda Lee had me angry over what the characters were doing one moment and then sobbing for them the next.

This book was a wild ride and I cannot wait to jump into Jade Legacy as soon as possible! 

This is my first foray into feminist non-fiction so I don't feel like I have the ability to rate this book on accuracy but I think it was a really educational read, being confrontational but important. It focused heavily on the US, which I did expect going into it, and I found that while some things didn't have much relevance to outside the US, there were some very good concepts and points made that are universally relevant. I think this is an important read for everyone, but particulalry white people, to ensure we are considering intersectionality in our feminism and constantly improving in our allyship.