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readerpants's reviews
1893 reviews
But Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: An Oral History of the '60s Girl Groups by Emily Sieu Liebowitz, Laura Flam
3.5
3.5 stars, rounding up for how many interviews were here.
This was a slow start -- it took me nearly halfway to really hit the flow -- because it completely lacked any background or contextualization by the authors/compilers. I love oral histories, but unless you're coming in with a solid knowledge of the topic already, this is a challenging entry. My knowledge consisted of growing up listening to a Philadelphia oldies station that played almost all Motown and girl groups... so enough to be like, yes I love this song, it's the Shirelles or whoever. But that's it, basically I knew the songs and the group names and nothing else. It's also very long. Once I hit halfway, though, I had picked up enough context that I was totally invested.
I haven't put all my thoughts in order yet about the content: there is so much here to unpack. They were SO YOUNG. the pieces about how these girls were exploited, the dynamics of race and gender and power, the geography and how that played into those dynamics... there is a lot here. I understand why the (white, Jewish, mixed-race white/Asian) authors wanted to remove themselves from the story in order to have the girls at the center, their voices unquestionably primary, and I can see how perhaps the lack of background and context stemmed from that. I'm not sure it worked, because all of the pieces and power dynamics and history are so complex and interrelated that to rely on the reader to do that unpacking and critical historical work is risky. But I get the impulse.
This was a slow start -- it took me nearly halfway to really hit the flow -- because it completely lacked any background or contextualization by the authors/compilers. I love oral histories, but unless you're coming in with a solid knowledge of the topic already, this is a challenging entry. My knowledge consisted of growing up listening to a Philadelphia oldies station that played almost all Motown and girl groups... so enough to be like, yes I love this song, it's the Shirelles or whoever. But that's it, basically I knew the songs and the group names and nothing else. It's also very long. Once I hit halfway, though, I had picked up enough context that I was totally invested.
I haven't put all my thoughts in order yet about the content: there is so much here to unpack. They were SO YOUNG. the pieces about how these girls were exploited, the dynamics of race and gender and power, the geography and how that played into those dynamics... there is a lot here. I understand why the (white, Jewish, mixed-race white/Asian) authors wanted to remove themselves from the story in order to have the girls at the center, their voices unquestionably primary, and I can see how perhaps the lack of background and context stemmed from that. I'm not sure it worked, because all of the pieces and power dynamics and history are so complex and interrelated that to rely on the reader to do that unpacking and critical historical work is risky. But I get the impulse.
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
4.0
Minus one star for the lack of communication until 68% through! Otherwise excellent.
Lulu Sinagtala and the City of Noble Warriors by Gail D. Villanueva
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Loved the representation and all the supportive, accepting family love. The exposition in the first half really dragged and I'm not sure the plot really held together? Not really for me but I'm hoping it's for other readers.
Unbought And Unbossed by Shirley Chisholm
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Holy Toledo, that second half. WHAT A MIC DROP. honestly sad to have read this digitally from the library bc there were so many parts I wanted to underline and keep.
The Last Wolf by Maria Vale
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
I enjoyed Molly Molloy and the Angel of Death and was curious what that author's voice would be like in a pnr/shifter book... and the answer is, still that of a medievalist academic!
This was definitely one of those "yes, I have to read every book in this series one after another on Libby without stopping even though my brain feels a little like that was too many wolf romances to binge in a row" situations.
Highly recommended for fans of Nalini Singh who are in it for the worldbuilding and sprawling community/political/world situations, with much better steamy scenes and much less squicky power/gender dynamics. (Not dissing Nalini Singh - I love the trashy-tv-show epic worldbuilding vibes of the newer Psy-Changeling books, but the romances pretty never work for me.)
I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see some some queer rep or even just discussion of the existence of queer people and relationships. I think that could fit so well and so interestingly into this universe. And I mean... the epigraph for the last book is by Danez Smith? I bet the author could explore that in a way that would be fascinating and thoughtful.
tl;dr: 4.5 stars, a solid read!
This was definitely one of those "yes, I have to read every book in this series one after another on Libby without stopping even though my brain feels a little like that was too many wolf romances to binge in a row" situations.
Highly recommended for fans of Nalini Singh who are in it for the worldbuilding and sprawling community/political/world situations, with much better steamy scenes and much less squicky power/gender dynamics. (Not dissing Nalini Singh - I love the trashy-tv-show epic worldbuilding vibes of the newer Psy-Changeling books, but the romances pretty never work for me.)
I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see some some queer rep or even just discussion of the existence of queer people and relationships. I think that could fit so well and so interestingly into this universe. And I mean... the epigraph for the last book is by Danez Smith? I bet the author could explore that in a way that would be fascinating and thoughtful.
tl;dr: 4.5 stars, a solid read!