User Profile

briellebouquet

briellebouquet@books.theunseen.city

Joined 1 year, 1 month ago

prairie trans girl trying to read her way, however slowly, out of oblivion

on the wider fediverse using mastodon at: queer.party/@briellebouquet

This link opens in a pop-up window

briellebouquet's books

Currently Reading

Stopped Reading

reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch, #1)

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice (Paperback, 2013, Orbit) 4 stars

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing …

neat exercise in perspective and cool worldbuilding

4 stars

writing a protagonist who is several different people wrapped into one consciousness, and is for some part of the story, not necessarily reliable as a storyteller, feels like it would've been a challenge, but ann leckie made it seem natural

the worldbuilding is, typically for good sci fi, brilliant. i felt absorbed into it. the constant surveillance within the radch is disturbing and feels connected to the real-life present. the colour and the characters are lovely.

i also noted that this is ann leckie's first full length novel and i'm super impressed.

i'm eager to read the next 2 in the series, though i'm going to read something else in between so i don't get series burnout!

Leslie Feinberg: Stone Butch Blues (Paperback, 2004, Alyson Publications) 5 stars

Stone Butch Blues is a historical fiction novel written by Leslie Feinberg about life as …

love, community, and the terrors of queer hatred

5 stars

i knew long before i read this that it would be important to me.

from a historical perspective, it shines a light on the realities of being a lesbian in the 60s and 70s. of being transmasculine and searching for terminology and self-understanding in a culture that didn't even marginally recognize gender outside the binary. or sexuality outside the hetero. it shines a light on surviving abusive parents. on finding community without the internet. of navigating complex queer subcultures. and hatred in its many forms, up to and including bar raids, arrests, and unspeakable abuses by cops.

it also illuminates and speaks to the beauty of love and friendship and comradeship within those queer communities. the intricacies in how butches and femmes and transfemmes interacted. i was able to see myself in the warmth and emotionality and fierce bravery in the face of fear and violence expressed by the femmes …

Leslie Feinberg: Stone Butch Blues (Paperback, 2004, Alyson Publications) 5 stars

Stone Butch Blues is a historical fiction novel written by Leslie Feinberg about life as …

this book was incredibly meaningful to me. i saw myself in it at times, out of place and time. i saw history. i saw oppression on a scale that i dont experience today as a white canadian trans lady.

the butches, the femmes, the others, the neithers, the trans men, women, enbies of the 60s and 70s, really did change the world. it's still scary and there's still work to do. but their suffering, the wars they had to fight, meant something.

i hope it's the same for me.

Ryka Aoki: Light From Uncommon Stars (Hardcover, 2021, Tor Books) 4 stars

Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in this defiantly joyful …

passionate, tense, wonderful

5 stars

aoki weaves passion for music together with a sci-fi subplot and a devil's bargain, in what feels like a very strange combination when you read the synopsis, but in fact works perfectly. aoki discusses trans issues, redemption, music, race, and technology with nuance and wit. her characters are vibrant and lively, flawed but lovable. i can't imagine anyone reading this without caring about aoki's characters to the point of tears in both its darker, and more uplifting moments.

i can't recommend this book strongly enough.