Non-fiction Review: Women Who Work

Women Who Work
Ivanka Trump

Rating: 2/5

I want to preface this review with a note. I dislike Donald Trump. Intensely. But I'm also a professional and this review is as fair and balanced as I can make it. I will not attack, only review the book as it is.

Ivanka Trump aims to provide support and fresh ideas to the business-oriented woman. She covers several subjects including how best to organize one's life to maximize efficiency, recognizing the joy in the little moments rather than striving always for a perfect balance, and the importance of communication. Ivanka's first-person narrative style is engaging and the book itself is excellently readable. Concepts are well organized and presented, developed with Ivanka's personal touches and references back to her website community.

The ultimate failing of this book is that, like so many other books about being successful, it is aimed at a very narrow target audience: women with privilege. It assumes a level of pre-existing success to which the average reader has not had access. Many of her tips and tricks are sound and can be traced back to realistic business practices, but there is very little original material here, not to mention a complete blind spot regarding the working poor, women of color, and professional issues of the middle and lower classes. This book was written for white women who are educated and have been supported throughout their lives to a standard far about the average. This book was written to the self-purchasing women who buy clothing for the name and jewelry from collections. There may be some tips to be found here that might aid those women in their journey, but for most people, there really is very little to recommend.

Adult Review: Manhattan Lockdown

Based on an advanced reader copy received through Edelweiss+ in return for an honest review.



Manhattan Lockdown
Paul Batista

Overall Rating: 3/5 
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 1/5
Writing: 2/5

Manhattan Lockdown tells the story of a bombing in New York City, an apparent terror attack on the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It follows a variety of interesting characters as they begin the process of locking down the island of Manhattan.

I'll be honest. I didn't finish. I actually really wanted to; the plot is captivating and the story made me deeply curious about what was going to happen and how it was going to resolve. But the characters were one-dimensional, cardboard cut-outs with very little appeal and the pace of the novel dragged horribly. The first four chapters tell the exact same sequence of events from the perspective of four different people without advancing the story. The first four chapters cover about fifteen minutes of in-story time and without sucking me into the lives of any of those people. I was really disappointed, since I had really been looking forward to reading this. I still look forward to reading it, for the story, but it's just not something I can handle right now.

Non-fiction Review: Happiness Like Water

Happiness Like Water
by Chinelo Okparanta

Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 5/5
Writing: 3/5

This collection of short stories and essays is written by a Nigerian immigrant in scenes from her homeland.

While I found the stories and characters fascinating, I struggled greatly with the voice. I didn't finish the material, but I hope to go back when I have more cognitive space to give this collection the attention it deserves. I can tell it's important and meaningful, but I just wasn't in the right place to read it this time around.

Watch this space.

Adult Review: The Rememberers

Based on a promotional eBook received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.



The Rememberers by C. Edward Baldwin

Overall Rating: 2/5
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Writing: 2/5

After about a quarter of the book, I finally had to put it down. The character were uninspired, the story was taking forever to get anywhere and I really didn't care where it seemed to be going. I feel bad that I didn't finish it, but I really wasn't enjoying it and didn't see the point to torturing myself any further.

I can see this book as being enjoyable for people who enjoyed Dan Brown's Davinci Code, but it really wasn't something I personally enjoyed.