Still enjoyed this one! Love how there's starting to be a bigger over-arching plot. I did get real confused with the platform and lines and such, but I just sort of ignored it and focused on the bigger stuff. Still love Donut and how she's evolving, and it was interesting to see how the gang would survive without Mordecai. Growing to love Katia also.

This was such a quick little read! It also packed lots of detail into very few pages. I’m super intrigued about the magic system, the political system, the world building. Loved it!

This was interesting! I knew some about Sue’s journey, but not all of the details, as most of it happened before I was born. Despite the way the introduction made it sound, Fifer, I think, did a good job on presenting a well rounded picture of the fight over the dinosaur, and kept it easy to understand, despite some complicated legal jargon.

I would have liked a bit more citations, formal ones, and a bit more of the actual discover timeline/story.

This was a previous DNF. Why did I do that??? I had seen the original tweet that the title comes from, and as soon as I knew this was coming out, I knew it was going to be phenomenal. Honestly, I’m not even sure what to write in this review that would sound anything approaching coherent? Just sort of sitting in a stunned silence. I’m a mix of sad and angry and hopeful and…. I don’t even know all at once, in a way that I don’t think I’ve ever felt before.

First, the writing style. Phenomenal. Using descriptions and accounts of individuals in Gaza, then flashing back to moments in the author’s career/life that show how we got here. The structures and organizations and ways that our system is directly failing.

Second, the way El Akkad manages to put into words feelings that 1) i can’t have as a white woman born in the United States and 2) that I’m now coming to realize I’ve had a while and never really managed to shape into a coherent thought before.

There’s more that I could say, and want to say, about this book, but I don’t think it deserves the absolute nonsense my thoughts would turn into on me typing this, so…. I’ll just say, everyone read this.

**actually 3.75 This was a very good summation and detailing of the issues and fights around gender diverse, mainly trans, and the changes in the climate around participation. Having a perspective from a trans athlete made this account all the more valuable. I liked the personal information/perspective put into this book, but the switching between third person, “Harrison,” and first person, “I”, for the author was sometimes slightly jarring. It was a little odd reading the introduction from a first person perspective and then having him referred to as “Harrison” in the main text. I understand the reasoning, but it threw me off slightly.

I also listened to the audiobook, and the voices/accents fell slightly strange, like they didn’t really need to be there.