It was definitely a really powerful collection. I agree with other reviewers that a lot of it felt like stuff I read in other books but rehashed in a somewhat less eloquent way. That said, there was a lot of value in her personal experiences. ( )

I especially liked the essay on "Black Girl Magic," how the phrase started out celebrating everyday lives, and how the author is reclaiming the phrase and using it that way again. ( )

Girl Gurl Grrrl: On Womanhood and Belonging in the Age of Black Girl Magic by Kenya Hunt is a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. And make no mistake, the parts are very good.

I'll try to explain what I mean by that comment. Like any collection of essays (of which a few are written by others) there will be some that are stronger than others or speak to the reader more. This is no different, though there wasn't, for me, any bad or even borderline essay, just some that spoke to me more while reading than others. I phrased that last part the way I did intentionally. How we read it, what it stirs or doesn't stir, is largely a function of what the reader brings and the writer's style. What I find, especially in a collection that speaks to current events and social justice, is that how it sticks with me is more important than how I felt while reading it. And that is where I think this book excels and also why I consider the whole (the reading and the impact after reading) is greater than the sum of its parts (the collection of essays).

I am not a woman and while I have some indigenous heritage I have essentially lived as a white, so anything I could somewhat relate to was either through a "similar to..." type exercise or remembering a friend mentioning something similar about how they feel or what they experienced. So I am not the target audience even though I imagine that I am the type of reader that can learn the most from the book. And learn I did even if it was/is at times uncomfortable (as it should be) and on a couple of occasions talking with friends who can more easily relate and asking questions (yeah, some of them were stupid questions, but they usually elicited the best answers).

I highly recommend this to readers who can either directly relate or want to better understand our current political and cultural environment. These should be read not just with an open mind but while bracketing one's preconceived ideas and privileges. Read to understand, not argue or refute. You shouldn't be doing those things before understanding anyway or you're just debating your own strawmen.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )