Tag Archives: literary

Book Review: The Default World by Naomi Kanakia

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The Default World by Naomi Kanakia

Publisher: The Feminist Press

Pub date: 5/28/24 – OUT NOW!

Thank you to the publisher for my gifted ARC!

Goodreads Synopsis:

“A trans woman sets out to exploit a group of wealthy roommates, only to fall under the spell of their glamorous, hedonistic lifestyle in tech-bubble San Francisco.

Years after fleeing San Francisco and getting sober, Jhanvi has made a life for herself working at a grocery co-op and saving for her surgeries. But when her friend (and sometimes more) Henry mentions that he and his techie festival-goer friends spent $100,000 to transform a warehouse basement into a sex dungeon, Jhanvi starts wondering if there’s a way to exploit these gullible idiots. She returns to San Francisco, hatching a plan to marry Henry for his company’s generous healthcare benefits.

Jhanvi enters a world of beautiful, decadent fire eaters and their lavish sex parties. But as her pretensions to cynicism and control start to fade, she develops a Gatsbyesque attraction to these happy young people and their bold claims of unconditional love. But do any of her privileged new friends really like or accept her? Her financial needs expose the limits of a community built on limitless self-expression, and soon she has to choose between doing what’s right, and doing what’s right for her.

This darkly funny novel skewers privileged leftist millennial tech culture, and asks whether “found family” is just another of the 21st-century’s broken promises.”

My thoughts:

What initially piqued my interest in THE DEFAULT WORLD (besides the gorgeous cover) was the transfeminine main character, Jhanvi. Although it sounds counterintuitive, I enjoyed Jhanvi’s POV, because she is terribly unlikeable. She is a major hypocrite, quite self-centered, and generally unkind to most people she encounters in life. Though this characterization choice doesn’t always pan out in literature, Kanakia definitely made it work for Jhanvi.

Sometimes, a flawed main character irks me to the point of not finishing a book, but this wasn’t the case for THE DEFAULT WORLD at all. I found it amusing to recognize Jhanvi’s hypocrisy throughout the story in the same way I do when reading Holden Caufield’s narration in THE CATCHER IN THE RYE. Holden would certainly call Jhanvi a phony and a sycophant, and I would absolutely back him up.

Although I found Jhanvi’s unlike-ability quite amusing, I wish there had been at least one redeeming character in THE DEFAULT WORLD. Not every novel needs a character for readers to root for, but I think this title could have benefited from it.

I’m so glad I came across THE DEFAULT WORLD while perusing Goodreads. I am always, always on the lookout for trans-centered literary fiction and, I must say, the book gods have been blessing me/readers in general lately! Seeing new release lists with queer-normative titles brings my heart so much joy, as this was not the case a few years ago. Thank you to The Feminist Press for my gifted copy of THE DEFAULT WORLD; I enjoyed it very much!

Book Review: The Nerves by Lee Suksi

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Book Review: The Nerves by Lee Suksi

Pub date: 9/24/20

Publisher: Metatron Press (thank you for my gifted copy!)

Goodreads synopsis:

“The Nerves is set in an imaginary world where our sense memories tell us who we are. The Nerves subverts the literary approach to sexuality by treating the erotic not as a site of anxiety but of reverie. Psychedelic, attentive, cinematic and hot, this book writes toward sensitivity and ecstasy. Exploring touch as healing abandon, The Nerves is charged with desire, devotion, and creative fantasy. Through a series of joyful encounters, Lena Suksi reminds us that pleasure can be abundant, nuanced and that it can heal. Engaging in a queer erotics of language, Suksi’s debut is a bundle of wet atmospheres, speaking to faith in touch.”

My thoughts:

This book may be small, but its impact on me as a reader is mighty. One of my very favorite things about THE NERVES is its center around transnormativity. They/them pronouns are the default for each character regardless of their names or bodies. Getting to immerse myself within a world where gender-neutrality is the norm was an absolute joy and eye-opener. I actually think THE NERVES would be great reading for a women & gender studies course, so the class could discuss how using non-gendered pronouns for every character within a book subverts society, relationships, social expectations, and even capitalism (to take it a step further). This collection certainly challenged me to dig deep, while also being an enjoyable and engaging read.

I also love the erotic components of THE NERVES. It’s sensual in a way that queers sex and intimacy. Each chapter (or very short story) centers around individuals who are intimate with one another, but not quite in a romantic sense. The sex is striking and queer with no sugar-coating. Overall, reading THE NERVES and watching relationships between the characters unfold was an absolute privilege. Thank you so much to Metatron Press for my gifted copy!

Book Review: Just Pervs by Jess Taylor

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JUST PERVS by Jess Taylor

Publisher: Book*hug Press

Pub date: 1/1/2019

Goodreads synopsis:

“Two sex addicts meet and fall in love. A woman catches her husband cheating on her with their dog and escapes to her sister’s horse farm. Four friends—fellow pervs—grow up and drift apart, pining for each other in silence until one of them is murdered.

In Jess Taylor’s sophomore story collection, contemporary views of female sexuality are subverted, and women are given agency over their desires and bodies. Through these characters, sex is revealed to be many things at gross, shameful, exhilarating, hidden or open—and always complicated. Reminiscent of the works of Maggie Nelson, Mary Gaitskill and Chris Kraus, the stories in Just Pervs explore the strange oppression and illumination created by desire, the bewilderment of adolescence, and the barriers to intimacy both discovered within and imposed upon ourselves.”

My thoughts:

If you’re a fan of Weird Girl Books, JUST PERVS is the perfect read for you. Furthermore, if you’re a fan of carrying books with stare-worthy titles shown on the covers in public, JUST PERVS is the perfect read for you, too. Though, writing this review and spending too long on the head-turning cover art and title would be doing this book a major injustice, as the stories inside are equally subversive and thought-provoking. Music reviewers sometimes refer to an album as having “no skips” when every song is a jam; I believe JUST PERVS has “no skips” for a similar reason.

Each, individual story in JUST PERVS immediately grabbed my attention within their first page and kept that attention the entire way through. One of my favorite parts about this collection is the lengths each piece goes to queer sexuality (“queer” being a verb here), a description that I know may sound redundant. Truly, though, JUST PERVS takes subverting themes of sex & intimacy and pushes them all the way outside of the box. In fact, I’d say there’s actually no box when it comes to Jess Taylor’s mind. Yes, the results of this are shocking and sometimes disturbing, but I like sitting in that discomfort for a bit.  

I realize I’m not going into specifics about the pieces in JUST PERVS, but I think spoiling their storylines would take away from their fun. I loved starting a new story within the collection and having no idea (but desperately awaiting to learn) what strange, freaky, queer events would be described in the following pages. I gasped, I laughed, and I definitely had looks of concern on my face while reading JUST PERVS in a coffee shop. I loved jUST PERVS and I greatly look forward to reading more of Jess Taylor’s work in the future!