11corvus11's reviews
886 reviews

I considered many times giving this less than 3 stars but I figure, if it's interesting enough for me to finish and understand by the end, it deserves half. That said, this was pretty much as flawed as I expected. I haven't read the other books in years so I did appreciate the refresher on the characters in the beginning. That refresher and the fond memories I have of the other books are what carried me through this one.

Things this author did ok: you can tell he did some research on the topics he discusses, you can tell he tried hard to carry on the stories, he wrote it interestingly enough that I finished it and cared to see what happened

Everything else was pretty bad. Lisbeth is terrible. Like a one dimensional rude (and not in an interesting way) invincible character. There are multiple MAGICAL disabilities in here which is always annoying. And, I don't know if it was the translation or his writing- either way every character spoke the same. It was difficult to tell characters apart in dialogues. And the story just didn't flow.

Then there are the ethical issues with Larrson not wanting his work to be taken over.

Now I can say I've read it. I wish it was better. Good try I guess, bud. Those were big shoes to fill.

I hate to give this such a low rating because Duane obviously cares about this topic and about helping people to understand their rights. I didn't find the material as boring as other reviewers because I'm interested in both criminal injustice and human behavior. Yet, this book is flawed in multiple ways.

It is disorganized which makes understanding how the case studies and other resources fit together difficult. The author never summarizes exactly what someone should say or do after he spends most of the book telling them what not to do. Furthermore, he gives cops, prosecutors, and judges way too much credit for being "only human" which can suggest that somehow criminal suspects are on an equal playing field with cops. I don't know if he was trying to avoid coming off as anti-police but in my opinion, you can't write this book without directly calling out the police and the criminal injustice system (which to his credit, he does do at times but then back pedals and calls cops who are obviously playing Russian roulette with people's lives "well intentioned.") Finally, a pet peeve was how often he downplayed the exploitation of nonhuman animals as a way to give examples of poorly written laws. I know most folks don't care much about animals other than some humans but I am always going to call it like I see it.

I do think Duane is capable of turning this into a better book with some organization and elaboration. I received this as a good reads giveaway so maybe this is not the final version. It needs to be longer and better edited. I do dig the cover design though.

In short, if you aren't interested in case studies, avoid this book and repeat after me: "Am I being detained? Am I free to go? I am going to remain silent. I want to speak to an attorney. I do not consent to a search." Rinse and repeat.

My mom bought me this I think for my birthday when it came out 11 years ago so I can't judge if I would like it today necessarily by my youthful fresh outta rehab standards then but I remember it being funny and silly.

Took my time with this one. I am glad I stuck with it. Reading it 11 years after it was published, it seems like it could have been written yesterday. I was initially so put off by the section of the "rape of the land" chapter directly equating environmental destruction with rape that I expected I would not like the rest of the book. I could go into the problems with this in detail but I won't for brevity's sake. Upon finishing the book I found myself educated by or in complete agreement with the rest. I also always appreciate a book that offers solutions with its critiques and Smith does a lot of that very well. It spans many intersections of race, gender, class, nation, ability, and even species. So, 5 stars even with the problematic section.

I decided to put this one down after finishing about 1/3 of it or so. The topics are important but the book wasn't what I expected. I thought it would do more connecting and explaining of issues of capitalism and animal exploitation but it's more if a extensively researched chronicle of colonialism and animal exploitation that is trying to fit way too much history in a very small space. It moved so fast I couldn't really sink into any period of time to fully grasp what was happening. Maybe my brain just doesn't work in the proper way to take in information that quickly.

I got this book from an article with a list of female "sci fi" authors so I was slightly surprised to find a young adult fantasy queer Cinderella story. Though not unpleasantly surprised. I should note that I know very little about these kinds of books and what makes them good or bad.

I really liked Lo's style of writing and the feel and pace of the book but it felt disjointed near the end The book goes from a slow surreal experience to a very rushed climax where a bunch of important things happen all at once. I wish it was more even.

But, I am intrigued and will likely read other books of hers.

I quit. I really tried with this book and I usually finish books even if I am not into them. I assumed I was the audience as an ethical vegan with a background in psychology and cognitive neuroscience. The first third of the book (introduction and chapter 1 and 2) are repetitively on the defensive about the discussion of nonhuman animal morality having a right to exist. The same things are said over and over and very little progress is made because the majority of it is trying to seem objective and scientific but just coming off as too afraid to make the valid point that other animals have emotional and moral lives. Without said repetition I assume this book could succeed as a 30 page paper instead.

Even with all that I stuck with it. But, a person like me can only read so many cruel captive animal studies without wanting to throw the book against a wall. I read half of this book and counted one tiny paragraph that even slightly acknowledged that- if we acknowledge that other animals are more than just machines- that the research is completely unethical. There were far more paragraphs validating cruel captive animal research because we've learned something about captive animal behavior. Science that validates cruelty for the sake of learning is dangerous and terrible as history and present will show.

I quit when I got to the study about mice injected with acid to see if they would show empathy while watching another mouse injected with acid before they themselves were also injected. Why don't we talk about the moral lives of human animals in this book? A scientist that spends their days injecting mice with acid is not someone I will ever look to as an authority on empathy or morality. Shame on this book for not calling these researchers out.

Maybe if I stuck with it the last half of the book would be just that. But, I spent my time pushing myself through it and waiting for what I expected- a detailing of moral animal behavior examples and a discussion thereof which included observations and ethics. I will stand corrected if the book completely changed direction after I quit. But, I doubt it.

2 stars instead of 1 for the discussion of anthropomorphism and because reading the reviews makes me think maybe it might build a bridge for some intellectuals- who don't believe humans and other animals share many things- to wake up.