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We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter Jackson
Mind, I am not implying nor do I believe that Carter Jackson is ignoring or intentionally excluding Black queer voices and history from We Refuse. I simply noticed queer Black identity as a missing spot of intersectionality which is relevant to Carter Jackson's arguments about Black resistance.
The below is nowhere near comprehensive (I had to stop myself before it got too long), but for those interested about reading about Black queer figures, culture, and history, here are some links to get started.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an eARC for review!
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This review is based on a digital ARC provided by the publisher.
Review
I love nonfiction books that blend autobiographical elements with the subject matter. In We Refuse, Carter Jackson examines Black resistance through historical figures and events (especially those which popular history has forgotten, with a particular focus on Black women) as well as from her own family, such as her brother and her great-grandmother.
Some nonfiction books struggle with dry or unengaging prose, which is certainly not an issue in We Refuse. Reading it feels like a conversation, not a textbook, so if you tend to avoid nonfiction because you find it "boring," that will not be a problem with We Refuse. Carter Jackson's prose is vibrant, emotional, funny, and fundamentally alive.
Carter Jackson examines, with nuance and care, the many ways in which Black people have resisted white supremacy. Her ability to bring historical events and figures to life--even those that little is known of--is fantastic. For example, Carter Jackson's telling of the life and trial of Carrie Johnson was strikingly evocative. She gave new life to life to Carrie's story: a teenage girl who defended her home and her father, leading to her year-and-a-half-long trial which, miraculously, ended with dropped charges after a retrial. I had never heard of Carrie (nor the events of 1919, where white mobs--including, of course, the police--attacked black communities), and I am so, so glad that We Refuse told her story.
As Carter Jackson states, "forgetting is political," and with her focus on figures whose stories have been largely--in some cases, intentionally--forgotten, she fights against racist cultural amnesia.
Some nonfiction books struggle with dry or unengaging prose, which is certainly not an issue in We Refuse. Reading it feels like a conversation, not a textbook, so if you tend to avoid nonfiction because you find it "boring," that will not be a problem with We Refuse. Carter Jackson's prose is vibrant, emotional, funny, and fundamentally alive.
Carter Jackson examines, with nuance and care, the many ways in which Black people have resisted white supremacy. Her ability to bring historical events and figures to life--even those that little is known of--is fantastic. For example, Carter Jackson's telling of the life and trial of Carrie Johnson was strikingly evocative. She gave new life to life to Carrie's story: a teenage girl who defended her home and her father, leading to her year-and-a-half-long trial which, miraculously, ended with dropped charges after a retrial. I had never heard of Carrie (nor the events of 1919, where white mobs--including, of course, the police--attacked black communities), and I am so, so glad that We Refuse told her story.
As Carter Jackson states, "forgetting is political," and with her focus on figures whose stories have been largely--in some cases, intentionally--forgotten, she fights against racist cultural amnesia.
Some Thoughts
That said, there are some noticably unaddressed spots in terms of intersectionality.
The most obvious to me was the lack of discussion of Black LGBTQ+ people in the context of their identities as Black civil rights figures and advocates. For example, while writers like Baldwin and hooks are mentioned, they are mentioned without reference or acknowledgement of their queer identities and queer work, neither of which are seperatable from their Black identities and Black work.
This struck me as strange, as Black queer communities and figures (especially Black queer women!) have a long history of refusing white structures of heterosexuality and gender roles, cultivating and expressing Black joy, and resisting white violence (especially police violence), all of which fit closely alongside the ideas of resistance Carter Jackson discusses.
For example, there was Storme DeLarverie, a Black butch lesbian and drag king called the Cowboy of NYC. She wore a gun on her hip and patrolled the streets to protect members of her community from anti-queer and racist hatred, which she called "ugliness" (https://www.campuspride.org/queer-history-profile-storme-delarverie/; https://www.villagepreservation.org/2022/03/23/storme-delarverie-village-guardian/).
To quote Alvin McEwen from his 2014 opinion piece "The Erasure of 'Gay' From Black History and the Black Community Must Stop" (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-erasure-of-gay-from-b_b_5936568):
The most obvious to me was the lack of discussion of Black LGBTQ+ people in the context of their identities as Black civil rights figures and advocates. For example, while writers like Baldwin and hooks are mentioned, they are mentioned without reference or acknowledgement of their queer identities and queer work, neither of which are seperatable from their Black identities and Black work.
This struck me as strange, as Black queer communities and figures (especially Black queer women!) have a long history of refusing white structures of heterosexuality and gender roles, cultivating and expressing Black joy, and resisting white violence (especially police violence), all of which fit closely alongside the ideas of resistance Carter Jackson discusses.
For example, there was Storme DeLarverie, a Black butch lesbian and drag king called the Cowboy of NYC. She wore a gun on her hip and patrolled the streets to protect members of her community from anti-queer and racist hatred, which she called "ugliness" (https://www.campuspride.org/queer-history-profile-storme-delarverie/; https://www.villagepreservation.org/2022/03/23/storme-delarverie-village-guardian/).
To quote Alvin McEwen from his 2014 opinion piece "The Erasure of 'Gay' From Black History and the Black Community Must Stop" (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-erasure-of-gay-from-b_b_5936568):
... the simple fact never entered my mind that yes, gay people were subjected to slavery, segregation and racism because of our skin. Just as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people of color exist now, we existed back then. Then it suddenly struck me again that I've never recalled any acknowledgement of this fact during the myriad of discussions, I've read, listened to or seen regarding comparisons between the gay and civil rights movements.
And why is that?
There have been numerous debates, articles, columns, movies and documentaries about how the legacy of racism has had a negative effect on so many aspects of African-American community, from our families to the way we interact with each other. It stands to reason that the legacy of racism didn't leave LGBT people of color unscathed. But information about what LGBT people of color did during those awful times in our history or what effect it has had on us is practically nonexistent.
...
There is a pattern of erasure which strips our presence from the majority of black history. And this pattern of erasure bleeds into day-to-day treatment and interactions. Personal biases and prejudices prevent us from being considered as genuine members of the black community and many heterosexual African-Americans conveniently ignore issues and concerns indigenous to us as LGBT people.
Mind, I am not implying nor do I believe that Carter Jackson is ignoring or intentionally excluding Black queer voices and history from We Refuse. I simply noticed queer Black identity as a missing spot of intersectionality which is relevant to Carter Jackson's arguments about Black resistance.
The below is nowhere near comprehensive (I had to stop myself before it got too long), but for those interested about reading about Black queer figures, culture, and history, here are some links to get started.
- Black Queer History & Identity
- https://time.com/6263354/black-lgbtq-history-representation/
- https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/2020-04/BlackHeroes_13_1.pdf
- https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/11830
- https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/harlem-renaissance-black-queer-history
- https://traue.commons.gc.cuny.edu/toward-our-black-queer-joyous-futures-to-achieve1-our-freedom-in-the-academy/
- https://www.newsweek.com/black-queer-studies-left-out-again-opinion-1872144
- https://www.queerportraits.com/bio/rainey
- https://www.bkreader.com/black-history-month/black-history-is-queer-history-and-queer-history-is-black-history-6544418
- https://lowninstitute.org/the-intersection-of-black-history-queer-studies-and-medicine/
- https://www.them.us/story/queer-women-of-color-pride-exclusion
- https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-erasure-of-gay-from-b_b_5936568
- https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/queering-black-history-and-getting-free/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24641077/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/nyregion/storme-delarverie-early-leader-in-the-gay-rights-movement-dies-at-93.html
- Black Queer Joy
- https://www.instagram.com/blackqueerjoy?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==)
- https://www.xonecole.com/lil-nas-x-black-boy-joy-representation/when-he-called-out-double-standards-again-and-again-and-again
- https://www.buzzfeed.com/daily/lil-nas-x-montero-album-queer-black-music
- https://www.gaytimes.com/life/unity-talks-taking-a-moment-to-celebrate-black-queer-joy/
- https://www.outfrontmagazine.com/black-queer-joy-resilient-rejuvenated-and-rested/
- https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2023/08/11507338/caribbean-carnival-black-queer-joy-photo-series
- https://lambdalegal.org/blogs/us_20230616_what-black-queer-joy-and-liberation-mean-this-juneteenth/
- https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/zen-contemplative-practice-and-the-emergence-of-black-queer-joy/
- Ballroom culture
- https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/brief-history-voguing
- https://peabodyballroom.library.jhu.edu/home/ballroom-history/
- https://www.loftgaycenter.org/ballroom_rising
- Stonewall rebellion
- https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/stonewall-era
- https://www.prideportland.org/heroes-of-the-stonewall-rebellion
- https://www.ywcaworks.org/blogs/firesteel/tue-06112019-0925/meet-black-lesbian-who-kick-started-gay-liberation-movement
Thank you to the publisher for providing an eARC for review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence and Racial slurs
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Lavender Speculation by Jamie Zaccaria
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
This review is based on a reviewer copy sent by the author.
Lavender Speculation has been on my list to read for a while, and I am so glad to have gotten to it. The stories in this collection are speculative fiction, ranging in length from two-page flash fiction pieces to longer short stories.
My favorites of the collection are the dark fairy tale stories, which work best with Zaccaria's style. I had a collection of stories by the brothers Grimm as a kid, and stories such as "Green Forest, White Snow" and "The Abandoned Princess" read like they'd be right at home in that collection. Capturing that childhood feeling of reading a fairy tale for the first time is hard to do, but Zaccaria nailed it. Those two stories were definitely my favorites of the collection.
I think the best stories in the collection are these longer ones. All these stories have interesting ideas or images at the core of them, but the shorter stories just don't give these ideas enough space to fully develop, and Zaccaria's direct style doesn't always work for these, especially for first person stories. For example, "Eviscerate" concluded with an interesting image (a man literally writing his own skin off) but the leadup suffered from heavy telling rather than showing, which just didn't quite work for me.
As said by Nadia Bulkin, Zaccaria is a promising new voice. While I didn't love every story in the collection, I am looking forward to more from Zaccaria, especially when it comes to work in dark fantasy and horror genres.
Lavender Speculation has been on my list to read for a while, and I am so glad to have gotten to it. The stories in this collection are speculative fiction, ranging in length from two-page flash fiction pieces to longer short stories.
My favorites of the collection are the dark fairy tale stories, which work best with Zaccaria's style. I had a collection of stories by the brothers Grimm as a kid, and stories such as "Green Forest, White Snow" and "The Abandoned Princess" read like they'd be right at home in that collection. Capturing that childhood feeling of reading a fairy tale for the first time is hard to do, but Zaccaria nailed it. Those two stories were definitely my favorites of the collection.
I think the best stories in the collection are these longer ones. All these stories have interesting ideas or images at the core of them, but the shorter stories just don't give these ideas enough space to fully develop, and Zaccaria's direct style doesn't always work for these, especially for first person stories. For example, "Eviscerate" concluded with an interesting image (a man literally writing his own skin off) but the leadup suffered from heavy telling rather than showing, which just didn't quite work for me.
As said by Nadia Bulkin, Zaccaria is a promising new voice. While I didn't love every story in the collection, I am looking forward to more from Zaccaria, especially when it comes to work in dark fantasy and horror genres.
The Ride of Her Life by Jennifer Dugan
Nat has always been there for Molly. She comes whenever Molly asks for help or calls her in tears over every minor inconvenience (seriously, Molly couldn't even _look at a list of repairs on her own_ and dragged Nat and her girlfriend KiKi two hours out of town every weekend to do free labor for her.)
Nat has missed so many opportunities to pick up the pieces for Molly and has seen Molly’s unhealthy attachment pattern to her partners and how many times she’s been emotionally and financially ruined by moving too fast in a relationship. So when she says that Molly is exhibiting unhealthy attachment to Shari, or expresses concern that Molly is basically willing to throw her entire life and savings into a risky debt-laden project, or tries to get her to return to the city, the novel tries to paint her as the villain, or in the wrong, for doing that.
_But Nat is fucking right._
And what I also think is interesting is that… we never see her (or hear mentioned) that Molly had ever tried to support Nat like Nat does Molly. Molly never runs lines with Nat, she never drops everything to comfort her when she doesn’t get a role she wants.
Not only does Molly never reciprocate the support she’s given by Nat in any way, she’s got a pattern of treating Nat like her emotional sponge, and never considers Nat’s life or needs. Hell, Molly abandons Nat, a lesbian, alone in a bar in the middle of nowhere, without her car, in a building full of men, with two men Nat _does not know_. Molly accepts that was a bad thing to do but all she does is be like “wow I’m Weally Weally Sowwy 🥺” and Nat forgives her pretty much immediately. Molly treats Nat terribly throughout the entire book, and, I’m sorry, but as a reader I just am not on Molly’s side at all, even though the book absolutely expects us to take it.
Molly assumes Nat will prioritize her, and gives lip service that she doesn’t _really_ want that, but relies on Nat throughout the entire book to figure out her life for her.
I also hated the ending. No, obviously, Nat shouldn’t have thrown away the letter. But like… her concerns about Molly are _right._ Molly has shown herself, again and again, to rush into relationships, to overcommit, to worsen her financial situation.
Molly pitches a fit and claims that she’s just Nat’s project and that Nat doesn’t see her as an equal, and dismisses her, and we’re meant to see that as a big moment? My sister in Christ, you are in the wrong! See my discussion of Nat and Shari’s relationship!!!! Look at your history!!! You need therapy!!!!!! You do not know how to treat other people (unless, I guess, you’re attracted to them)!!!!!!!
Molly ends the book by hoping that Nat will realize she was “in the wrong” and that she’ll apologize, but I ended it hoping that Nat never speaks to her again so that way when Molly and Shari end up in a toxic miscommunication/argument cycle about money or renovations or whatever (because they will) she and Kiki don’t have to get caught up in it.
And, finally, my niche gripe that no one else probably cares about:I was really excited seeing the word lesbian on the very first page to refer to Nat! But then ||she’s the """"bad guy"""" (again, like I said earlier, fuck Molly, Nat was right). It’s just Inch Resting to me that the only character that gets labeled as a lesbian is the Bad Guy, while love interest and every other sapphic character are either bi or unlabeled. Do I think it was intentional? No. Does that make it any less annoying? No.
This was my last hurrah for contemporary romance. I’m hanging up my hat. This game just isn’t for me.
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This review is based on an advanced galley sent by the publisher.
The only reason this got 2.5 stars is because I am desperate for masc cowboy sapphic love interests. Otherwise it would have maybe scraped by with 2 stars.
The only reason this got 2.5 stars is because I am desperate for masc cowboy sapphic love interests. Otherwise it would have maybe scraped by with 2 stars.
ONE: THE PLOT
The plot is fine, for the most part. Molly struggling to decide how she wants to handle the enormous responsibility of getting a huge property dumped on her is realistic; she's under an immense amount of stress and struggling to make a decision about how to handle this situation she's been thrust into without consent. Molly weighs her needs against other folk's needs against the reality of money and debt. When she has conversations about this with characters like JJ, Aiyana, Lochlin, or Lita, whether or not she will keep or sell is actually an interesting drama.
The romance part of the plot is a mess of miscommunications and people contriving to keep information away from Molly for no reason. She is constantly saying that she doesn't understand things or asking for clarification and the only reason it's not given to her is to drag the plot out longer or to cause a dumb fight between her and the love interest, Shani.
Though it was a bit silly that no onemade the very obvious connection that the land is a beautiful event space and would be a perfect start for Molly to both begin her event company (side note: Immaculate Events is a terrible name) while not evicting her aunt's boarders. Like rub those brain cells together, girl, I know you've got at least two of them rattling around in there.
Speaking of Molly.
The romance part of the plot is a mess of miscommunications and people contriving to keep information away from Molly for no reason. She is constantly saying that she doesn't understand things or asking for clarification and the only reason it's not given to her is to drag the plot out longer or to cause a dumb fight between her and the love interest, Shani.
Though it was a bit silly that no one
Speaking of Molly.
TWO: THE MAIN CHARACTER
Molly feels like a character whose entire character is "relateable."
She fulfills every stereotype about a mid-20s bi white woman romance MC. She likes Taylor Swift. She reads romance novels. She likes iced coffee. She's drowning in student debt. She's working part time after being unable to chase her dreams. She's a little clumsy. She's Totally Not Gorgeous (100% absolutely beautiful, insert One Direction lyrics here).
(Also, sorry for being a petty bitch, butI cannot stand her Taylor Swift obsession. I understand why it's there because contemporary romance readers go gaga for her but I just Don't Care About Her and I'm sick of seeing her everywhere. )
The few parts of her that seem unique and really interesting either don't get fully developed (her toxic relationship with her mother) or only shine briefly at the end (her passion for event planning). As a result, she's just kind of boring as a main character.
Also, why is she labeled "sunshine"? Because she bakes and is a lil clumsy and likes the most popular singer of the modern day??? Please.
When she's stressed out about trying to get things done or taking care of the horses (aka actually engaging with the plot) I like her! I love my protagonists being anxious or upset or angry. What I don't love is when the book doesn't seem aware of how _fucking awful_ she is being to other people (see: her being labeled as "sunshine," her being right in the end _vis a vis_ Nat) or just slaps #relateable characteristics on her to appeal to (a very specific type of) The Gays.
And, look, again, maybe this relateability is just a genre convention and it is just Not For Me. In that case, mea culpa. But, in my humble opinion, Molly _sucks._
She fulfills every stereotype about a mid-20s bi white woman romance MC. She likes Taylor Swift. She reads romance novels. She likes iced coffee. She's drowning in student debt. She's working part time after being unable to chase her dreams. She's a little clumsy. She's Totally Not Gorgeous (100% absolutely beautiful, insert One Direction lyrics here).
(Also, sorry for being a petty bitch, but
The few parts of her that seem unique and really interesting either don't get fully developed (her toxic relationship with her mother) or only shine briefly at the end (her passion for event planning). As a result, she's just kind of boring as a main character.
Also, why is she labeled "sunshine"? Because she bakes and is a lil clumsy and likes the most popular singer of the modern day??? Please.
When she's stressed out about trying to get things done or taking care of the horses (aka actually engaging with the plot) I like her! I love my protagonists being anxious or upset or angry. What I don't love is when the book doesn't seem aware of how _fucking awful_ she is being to other people (see: her being labeled as "sunshine," her being right in the end _vis a vis_ Nat) or just slaps #relateable characteristics on her to appeal to (a very specific type of) The Gays.
And, look, again, maybe this relateability is just a genre convention and it is just Not For Me. In that case, mea culpa. But, in my humble opinion, Molly _sucks._
THREE: MOLLY AND SHARI
You seriously expect me to believe that two characters that can’t go 24 hours without miscommunicating, fighting, or crying are going to get an HEA?
Please.
Also I’m sick of chemistry between characters entirely relying on physical attraction and calling it good enough. For example, personality. (And while Shari is undeniably a catch, Molly has the personality of a modern day Wattpad Y/N, so I don’t understand why Shari likes her.)
Their conversations were uninteresting because half the time they were fighting over something contrived or were acting like children about finances. The entire book I was just thinking “Jesus Christ, someone get an adult in here.”
And then they would get an adult—Nat—in there. And I regretted it. Immediately. Starting a petition to get Nat into a better book because she does not deserve the vilification she gets.
FOUR: NAT
Nat has missed so many opportunities to pick up the pieces for Molly and has seen Molly’s unhealthy attachment pattern to her partners and how many times she’s been emotionally and financially ruined by moving too fast in a relationship. So when she says that Molly is exhibiting unhealthy attachment to Shari, or expresses concern that Molly is basically willing to throw her entire life and savings into a risky debt-laden project, or tries to get her to return to the city, the novel tries to paint her as the villain, or in the wrong, for doing that.
_But Nat is fucking right._
And what I also think is interesting is that… we never see her (or hear mentioned) that Molly had ever tried to support Nat like Nat does Molly. Molly never runs lines with Nat, she never drops everything to comfort her when she doesn’t get a role she wants.
Not only does Molly never reciprocate the support she’s given by Nat in any way, she’s got a pattern of treating Nat like her emotional sponge, and never considers Nat’s life or needs. Hell, Molly abandons Nat, a lesbian, alone in a bar in the middle of nowhere, without her car, in a building full of men, with two men Nat _does not know_. Molly accepts that was a bad thing to do but all she does is be like “wow I’m Weally Weally Sowwy 🥺” and Nat forgives her pretty much immediately. Molly treats Nat terribly throughout the entire book, and, I’m sorry, but as a reader I just am not on Molly’s side at all, even though the book absolutely expects us to take it.
Molly assumes Nat will prioritize her, and gives lip service that she doesn’t _really_ want that, but relies on Nat throughout the entire book to figure out her life for her.
I also hated the ending. No, obviously, Nat shouldn’t have thrown away the letter. But like… her concerns about Molly are _right._ Molly has shown herself, again and again, to rush into relationships, to overcommit, to worsen her financial situation.
Molly pitches a fit and claims that she’s just Nat’s project and that Nat doesn’t see her as an equal, and dismisses her, and we’re meant to see that as a big moment? My sister in Christ, you are in the wrong! See my discussion of Nat and Shari’s relationship!!!! Look at your history!!! You need therapy!!!!!! You do not know how to treat other people (unless, I guess, you’re attracted to them)!!!!!!!
Molly ends the book by hoping that Nat will realize she was “in the wrong” and that she’ll apologize, but I ended it hoping that Nat never speaks to her again so that way when Molly and Shari end up in a toxic miscommunication/argument cycle about money or renovations or whatever (because they will) she and Kiki don’t have to get caught up in it.
And, finally, my niche gripe that no one else probably cares about:
This was my last hurrah for contemporary romance. I’m hanging up my hat. This game just isn’t for me.
The Call Is Coming from Inside the House: Essays by Allyson McOuat
There was nothing new or interesting vis a vis her analysis that made me think about a trope, story, or piece of media in a new or fresh or interesting way.
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
This review is based on a digital ARC provided by the publisher.
REVIEW
I wanted to love The Call Is Coming from Inside the House, I really did.
The cover–which is what initially caught my eye–is gorgeous. It’s haunting, it’s weird, and I wouldn’t say no to owning it as a print.
The summary sealed the deal: queer essays about identity through the lens of horror, 90’s pop culture, and true crime?
That’s so far up my alley it’s in my house.
The Good
McOuat’s prose is vibrant and evocative–when she’s talking about moments from her life.
The images of her running from a coyote, supporting her children through their first experience of loss and grief, and waking up to a man standing at the end of her bed are striking, real, alive.
Those moments are the ones I enjoyed reading, and it’s those moments that I will remember.
My favorite essay, by far, was “The Harbinger (Death at Every Corner).” McOuat examines her extreme anxiety and how she began to have a healthier approach to the voice in her head that warned her about danger at every corner. It was relatable to me in a way that a lot of writing about anxiety isn’t.
However, there were two main sticking points that kept me from absolutely loving the collection: a lack of connection and uninteresting analysis.
The Unconnected
Besides the broad theme, the collection lacks a consistent connecting thread that supports the reading experience; in other words, a consistent, traceable arc from beginning to end.
For example, take In the Dream House, a book with a very similar premise: examining a queer woman’s life through pop culture, horror, urban legend, and thriller tropes (though ItDH is highly experimental with form). ItDH is sustained essay to essay and as a whole with a central connective thread: Machado and the woman’s relationship, which progresses and changes.
The Call Is Coming from Inside the House does not have a central thread.
From essay to essay we oscillate from from fertility treatments to home ownership to divorce to family oral history to the anxieties of teenage girlhood back to her pregnancy.
I could follow each individual essay’s narrative fine, but jumbled snapshots of McOuat’s chronology paired with wildly fluctuating topics made for a disjointed reading experience when considered as a whole.
And individual essays rarely stayed focused. Even my favorite chapter isn’t immune.
“The Harbinger (Death at Every Corner)” begins with two pages talking about Frozen, discussing queercoding and the Hayes Code. Three pages in we finally get around to anxiety (as per the essay’s title, seeing death around every corner). Frozen connects tangentially a few pages later, when she compares how she handled this anxiety to being shut in a castle.
When I finished reading, I had a bevy of questions. What relevance does the Hayes Code have to the idea of the harbinger and intrusive anxiety? Why bother bringing in Frozen, as the harbinger and the final girl tropes (the latter having been mentioned once) could have said much the same while keeping the essay focused around thematically connected topics?
The Boring
I’m not saying that it would be impossible to connect Frozen with the harbinger trope, or that essays shouldn’t bring together disparate concepts.
The reason I have issues is because the analysis of these two concepts is, well… shallow.
Elsa being queercoded? I read that same exact reading on Tumblr a decade ago (seriously, see this post from 2014).
The titular Harbinger trope? Purely exists to explain why McOuat calls her anxiety the Harbinger. Personifying her anxiety as the Harbinger is fine–I like it–but that’s where the lens stops.
There’s also no analysis or connection made between the harbinger concept and Frozen.
To quote the summary, the “examination through the lens” McOuat is doing here boils down to 'my anxiety feels like the harbinger, and I reacted to it like Elsa did, which was by hiding myself away (also did you know Elsa is kinda queercoded?).'
Again, the reason why “The Harbinger (Death at Every Corner)” was my favorite is because when she actually discusses her life, her intrusive thoughts, and how they impacted her as a functioning person and as a mother, the writing is really good. It’s intimate and intense and emotional.
Her experiences speak to me as a person who also deals with those issues, and the framing of the Harbinger could have gone in a really interesting direction!
But it just didn’t, and as a result, the analysis part of the essay–half of the whole essay!–bored me.
Many of her analysis struggles similarly. Her takes are, often, Freshman Intro to Horror level basic.
Her queer and feminist analysis of tropes–such as covens, final girls, and the man at the end of the bed–are both surface level and common knowledge for any queer/feminist horror enjoyer.
For example:
- Covens are akin to female/queer community and dressing witchy = flagging.
- Final girls are the “right” kind of victim because they fight back.
- The man at the end of the bed is voyeurism: the invasion of privacy.
There was nothing new or interesting vis a vis her analysis that made me think about a trope, story, or piece of media in a new or fresh or interesting way.
As a result, I’ve got nothing to intellectually chew on, leaving me, yes, bored for, like, half of every essay.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While I’ve been critical of The Call is Coming from Inside the House, I do think it’s a solid 3 star read. I like McOuat’s prose. When she talks about her life, it’s vivid, emotional, and poignant. She’s a vivid storyteller, and I’d certainly love to read more of her personal essays in the future. I’d go so far as to say I’d love a memoir from her.
Just… temper your expectations when it comes to the “lens” part.
Thank you to ECW Press for providing a digital ARC via Netgalley.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Pregnancy
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Stalking
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
The Complete Poems of John Keats by John Keats
3.5
I read all of Endymion. To quote Shelley, "no person should possibly get to the end of it," but I did. However, I admit, he was right and I should not have tried.
I do love Keats, but it's very clear these poems were from someone early in their artistry. It's a tragedy he died so young.
I do love Keats, but it's very clear these poems were from someone early in their artistry. It's a tragedy he died so young.
Legion: A Novel from the Author of the Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Weird Black Girls: Stories by Elwin Cotman
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This review is based on a digital ARC provided by the publisher.
REVIEW
Weird Black Girls is going to be strange to review. Do I think it was good? Yeah. I mean, I rated it four stars.
Was it what I expected based on the title, cover, and blurb? Not really. The two contemporary stories felt out of place and the focus of the collection wasn’t really on weird Black girls. More on that later.
For now, a brief summary and discussion of each story:
THE SWITCHIN’ TREE - A Black community is faced with an authoritarian tree that progressively escalates the violence parents visit on their children. This was a remarkably strong start to the collection; I loved the main character (a tomboyish young Black girl), the prose (a little purple at times, but sue me, I liked it), and the bizarre, weird horror that came screaming in at the end.
REUNION - Two friends catch up about their lives while reality shifts around them. “The Switchin’ Tree” is hard to follow up and while I enjoyed the absurd, strange imagery of “Reunion,” the characters fell flat for me.
OWEN - A father deals with his son’s obsessional grief over the death of a wrestler. The first of the two more contemporary, less fantastical stories. I enjoyed it! The image ||of a father taking his son to the woods to hold a shoe box funeral for a stranger is deeply touching and an image that|| will stick with me for a while.
TRIGGERED - Two toxic friends in an activist community are shitty to each other and everyone around them. The second contemporary story. It’s… fine. Sharp commentary on the ways that identity and activism get weaponized by toxic people and some excellent character work, but the pacing dragged (it’s 50 pages long). I just really wanted it to be over.
THINGS I NEVER LEARNED IN CAITLIN CLARKE’S INTRO TO ACTING CLASS - Two Black men in a relationship discover one can relive the other’s memories from undergrad when they touch. Back to spec fic. This was one of my favorites in the collection–the desperate need for human connection and the desire to be desired and the question of “what if things were different” hit hard.
TOURNAMENT ARC - Two older Black men decide to run a LARP fight at a con, only for multi-versal, cosmic, fantastical entrants to start showing up. A hilarious, sweet, nostalgic reflection on fan culture, anime, and how they can be a haven for Black kids trying to figure themselves out. My stand-out favorite of the collection and the one I’ll still be thinking about in a year.
WEIRD BLACK GIRLS - In an alternate universe where Boston was hit by the Rupture, an upheaval of the earth that thrust the city into the air and lead to a blooming of the bizarre and fantastical, a man and his younger ex-girlfriend take one last trip together. The titular story, quite long at 100 pages. While I loved the setting, I couldn’t stand the narrator and spent the whole time wishing the POV was from his ex’s point of view.
In a way, Weird Black Girls reminds me of The King in Yellow. The weird, magical, literary stories rule, while the contemporary stories feel out of place and aren’t as enjoyable.
As mentioned, I liked “Owen.” I feel “Triggered” is fine, even though it’s not my cup of tea. Both are worth a read, but I think they’d have been more enjoyable if I’d gone into them expecting contemporary rather than more weird fantastical spec-fic set up by everything surrounding them. Good stories, just not sure why they’re featured in a collection described as “literary-fantastical hybrid fiction,” y’know?
If you want a collection with weird Black girls, I’d point you elsewhere (for example, to All These Sunken Souls, which has a lot of fantastic short stories about weird Black girls and young women). Despite being titled Weird Black Girls, I’d argue the collection has a far heavier focus on Black men, with Black girls and women almost always being secondary characters.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This collection is certainly worth picking up, purely for “Things I Never Learned in Caitlin Clarke’s Intro to Acting Class” and “Tournament Arc.” If you like not-very-short stories, “Weird Black Girls,” the titular and final story, is almost 100 pages, while “Triggered,” the second-longest, is 50 pages. While some are indeed on the shorter end (“Reunion” at 23 pages, “Owen” at 21 pages), most of these are the long kind of story. I look forward to reading more Cotman in the future!
Thank you to Scribner for providing a digital ARC via Netgalley.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Sexual content
Parasocial by Erica Henderson, Alex de Campi
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0