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The Secret Loves of Geek Girls
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The Secret Loves of Geek Girls is a non-fiction anthology mixing prose, comics, and illustrated stories on the lives and loves of an amazing cast of female creators. Featuring work by Margaret Atwood (The Heart Goes Last), Mariko Tamaki (This One Summer), Trina Robbins (Wonder Woman), Marguerite Bennett (Marvel's A-Force), Noelle Stevenson (Nimona), Marjorie Liu (Monstress
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Paperback, Expanded, 279 pages
Published
October 18th 2016
by Dark Horse Books
(first published December 9th 2015)
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Start your review of The Secret Loves of Geek Girls
The Secret Loves of Geek Girls is a non-fiction anthology mixing prose, comics, and illustrated stories on the lives and loves of an amazing cast of female creators.
Can I just say that this was exactly my kind of anthology?
There are a lot of short stories in this one (around 50), so I decided to feature the ones that captured my heart the most:
This review contains mild spoilers.
Comics by Margaret Atwood:
We start out with 4 comics from Margaret Atwood that I throughly enjoyed.
Minas T ...more
Ahh what a book. I loved it so much. The contributors are so diverse: LGBQ, trans, poly, asexual, demisexual, you name it, there's a geek girl writing about it. I had to take a break every few essays because I was so emotional. It's really nice to feel understood by something you're reading, but it can be overwhelming when it hits SO close to home. If you call yourself a geek or nerd, there's a story in here for you.
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Me, while reading this:
It took me a long time to get through this book. Longer than it should have. I couldn't connect with some of the stories, but man, I (overly) connected with others. I laughed a few times, but I cried many times, because the words hit too close to home (looking at you, Marguerite Bennett). This collection is great because there are a lot of stories by many different women, and there's something for every geek girl to connect with.
It's very difficult to get through if you' ...more
It took me a long time to get through this book. Longer than it should have. I couldn't connect with some of the stories, but man, I (overly) connected with others. I laughed a few times, but I cried many times, because the words hit too close to home (looking at you, Marguerite Bennett). This collection is great because there are a lot of stories by many different women, and there's something for every geek girl to connect with.
It's very difficult to get through if you' ...more
The Secret Loves of Geek Girls is a nonfiction anthology about crushes and friendships and romantic relationships. It tells a variety of stories, written by contributors that include trans women, bisexual women, and women of color. Most of it is prose, but there are some short comics and illustrations interspersed throughout the book. Some of it is written as advice, and a few pieces play around with format, but lots of pieces are straight-up memoir. The book is full of references to big fandoms
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I'm sitting here in my Doctor Who shirt, after having read two books in three days, reviewing this book while also possibly bawling. Maybe. Okay, I'm bawling.
I'm a late in life geek. Most people realize they are a geek early and have time to acclimate. I was a weird amalgamation of multiple labels growing up. I hung out with the smart kids. We were in AP classes, and were good at school and stuff. I read a great deal, willingly, which was weird at the time. But I was also a fairly gifted athlete ...more
I'm a late in life geek. Most people realize they are a geek early and have time to acclimate. I was a weird amalgamation of multiple labels growing up. I hung out with the smart kids. We were in AP classes, and were good at school and stuff. I read a great deal, willingly, which was weird at the time. But I was also a fairly gifted athlete ...more
![destiny ♡⚔♡ [howling libraries]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1557144778p2/15335689.jpg)
No rating for this one because I honestly just skimmed it. It was pitched to me as a graphic novel and I was really bummed to see that most of it is actually just essays written in text with the occasional illustration or brief panel. It's not a bad book, just not what I wanted it to be.
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5/5
I adore this anthology. There are a lot of amazing Canadian writers and artists that are showcased in this anthology (which I love seeing as a Canadian!)
But with this anthology, I found a lot of resemblance to myself and I think that is what made it so appealing. Realistically, I think that's why it was made, and why it's so important that it was made.
I think this work finally shows the three dimensional female figures that we all know exist in the geek world, but are rarely seeing when read ...more
I adore this anthology. There are a lot of amazing Canadian writers and artists that are showcased in this anthology (which I love seeing as a Canadian!)
But with this anthology, I found a lot of resemblance to myself and I think that is what made it so appealing. Realistically, I think that's why it was made, and why it's so important that it was made.
I think this work finally shows the three dimensional female figures that we all know exist in the geek world, but are rarely seeing when read ...more
ok guys, I really LOVED this. some stories hit me harder than others but when they did, damn, they hit hard. this anthology is so honest, and fun, and dark, and simple, and complicated: everything love is. also, it's inclusive AND diverse!
the comics are wonderful and the stories too. there's so many ladies I admite in this!
URGH I JUST REALLY LIKED THIS AND CAN'T MAKE ANY SENSE OF MY FEELINGS
full review here: https://catshelf.wordpress.com/2016/0... ...more
the comics are wonderful and the stories too. there's so many ladies I admite in this!
URGH I JUST REALLY LIKED THIS AND CAN'T MAKE ANY SENSE OF MY FEELINGS
full review here: https://catshelf.wordpress.com/2016/0... ...more
To be fair, I didn't know what this book was when I bought it. I was browsing online for graphic novels and this popped up. I saw that it was an anthology of geeky stories, and that Margaret Atwood was a contributor, so I bought it.
I didn't realize that this isn't entirely a graphic novel - about half of it is made up of short stories. All of the stories are romance oriented with lots of geeky references. There genuinely wasn't a single story I liked. Most were just very boring, and some didn't ...more
I didn't realize that this isn't entirely a graphic novel - about half of it is made up of short stories. All of the stories are romance oriented with lots of geeky references. There genuinely wasn't a single story I liked. Most were just very boring, and some didn't ...more
Feb 16, 2016
Kate
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites,
books-i-own
I backed this on Kickstarter so, full disclosure there. Also I did not intend to sit down and read this in one sitting but I did. I feel like I read it a bit too fast (I definitely didn't; I've apparently been sitting here for a while). When I read this again, and I'm sure there will be several repeat readings, I may need to stretch out. One work a day or something.
Being a Geek Girl (nerd girl, fangirl, whatever your preferred nomenclature) can be an isolating experience as much as it is a colle ...more
Being a Geek Girl (nerd girl, fangirl, whatever your preferred nomenclature) can be an isolating experience as much as it is a colle ...more
THIS!!
This non fiction literally touches on so many aspects that are either me or so close to me that it felt too good to be true!!
I'm reading this and literally having to stop because these are the people I've been looking for and I understood so much of the sentiments and feelings that it was hard to dismiss this as anything but facts.
Growing up in a large city has it's own nuances and yes, makes finding like minded people just as hard as in a small city. As a fellow lady nerd who's also an in ...more
This non fiction literally touches on so many aspects that are either me or so close to me that it felt too good to be true!!
I'm reading this and literally having to stop because these are the people I've been looking for and I understood so much of the sentiments and feelings that it was hard to dismiss this as anything but facts.
Growing up in a large city has it's own nuances and yes, makes finding like minded people just as hard as in a small city. As a fellow lady nerd who's also an in ...more
What's your Patronus? I ask, and it seems strange that I have not asked until now.
These are the questions that matter more, more than how many siblings we have, than what our parents do for a living, then what television shows we follow in the fall. What is your Patronus?
What is the thing that represents all protection to you, all reassurance, all strength, all love?
What is the happiest moment you can remember, to summon the spell to you? What drives away the dark in your heart?
The Secret Lov ...more
Halfway through reading this, a friend asked what I thought of it. I told her I liked it because it gave me a POV on realities I've never experienced. I appreciated the stories from a female/geek/lesbian/coloured/ethnic minority/social outcast perspective. Various combinations of these traits gave me a lot to think about what I felt was by definition "different" than me. The stories themselves are all sorts of funny, touching and consistently interesting. The same holds true for the comics inclu
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I would pay good money to someone to take a side-trip in a TARDIS and drop this book off into the mailbox of my 14-year-old self.
Or, even better, for a mysterious rich patron to distribute a copy of it to all CURRENT adolescent girls. Geek and non-geek ones alike.
Even at the age of one-week-short-of-30, The Secret Loves of Geek Girls seriously changed my life. It's going to be a while before I can put it all to words, because right now I am just sitting like a happy little bundle under the Chri ...more
Or, even better, for a mysterious rich patron to distribute a copy of it to all CURRENT adolescent girls. Geek and non-geek ones alike.
Even at the age of one-week-short-of-30, The Secret Loves of Geek Girls seriously changed my life. It's going to be a while before I can put it all to words, because right now I am just sitting like a happy little bundle under the Chri ...more
A great mix of stories about the Secret Loves of Geek Girls. I personally loved that it mixed stories, short comics, and essays covering loves from fandom to loving relationships, from friends to lovers, happily ever afters to heartbreaks.
This anthology about geek girls and their relationships was an interesting reading experience. It's a mix of short stories and comics. The artwork is beautiful. Some of the stories were fantastic; some were dull. Overall, I enjoyed it, but no need to race to your nearest book buying facility.
...more
Positively delightful! This is an anthology, a mixture of comics and prose revolving around the theme of the title. Most of the stories seem to be autobiography, not surprising really. There are tales of first loves and crushes and the awkwardness of figuring out how dating and relationships work anyway (hint: It involves much more improvisation than is apparent at first glance. Most people are just as nervous about it as you; they're just putting up a good front.) Although I've never been femal
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I loved this book. There were some that were a little weird and random but, for the most part, completely relateable. The awkwardness of not dating when all you other friends were or not dating until you were a little older. Finding people who really get you and all different types of relationships. These woman talk about it all. There many times where I wished I had this in my early 20s.
Borrowed this from the library as Margaret Atwood was a contributor to the mix of short stories and graphic novels (can you call them graphic novels when they're less than 5 pages long?). Only dipped in here and there as it wasn't really my cup of tea. Stories were too short and tried too hard to be clever.
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Kinda all over the place, but I blame that mostly on the changing media and how many contributors there were. I feel like it would have benefited by dividing and expanding.
Interesting, for sure, with some insightful essays and stories, but a lot of the stories were too genre-specific for me to really connect to.
Some of these stories are amazing! But overall I really like this anthology! So diverse and geeky! Love it!
i checked this out of the library not really knowing what it was about--i actually assumed it involved the various interests of "geek girls," and while it definitely had comic books, video games, LOTR, etc. in there, it also was about how "geek girls" find and experience love 💕
there were long distance relationships, online dating stuff, not settling for who you just like, and many different sexualities were represented here.
i actually found a label that i had never heard of before:
demisexual-- ...more
there were long distance relationships, online dating stuff, not settling for who you just like, and many different sexualities were represented here.
i actually found a label that i had never heard of before:
demisexual-- ...more
3.75 Stars
I found a lot of the essays either not super well written, or entirely too dependent on fandom metaphors to hold my interest. That said, some of the art was gorgeous, and I immediately loved Love In The Time of Ethernet.
May 28, 2017
Julie
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
literally every nerdy girl
This book is about love. The love of all things geeky, the love of other people like us. Learning that love isn't just about liking the same things, as in the story "Nerd Love" by Irene Koh. Reticent and reserved love, trapped in a world that seems sex obsessed as related by Megan Kearney....more
Love of movie stars who represent something they're not. Love of superheroes. Love of everything with David Bowie in it. Long-distance love conducted entirely by computer terminal and iPhone. Love we can never
HOLY FREAKIN SHIT! What is this amazing level of relate?? Though some stories weren't relatable at all, some are OVERLY relatable. Again, why did it take me so long to finish this? Also, great comics and cute illustrations, definitely a huge plus.
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This book offers a large collection of short stories by and about women. The tales cover myriad subjects, not the least of which is sexuality. For those who think this is 'just another graphic novel,' please be warned that the subject matter is often mature and should be targeted to young adults and, perhaps, very mature middle graders.
The stories are important and validate many of the feelings that women have felt unable to express in other media. It is an inclusive book that does not shy away ...more
The stories are important and validate many of the feelings that women have felt unable to express in other media. It is an inclusive book that does not shy away ...more
This was a mixed one for me but the majority of the book I did really like or related to in some form or other. It's a hard one to review because there are so may different formats and styles throughout that you're bound to like/love some and not like others, but I definitely think there were more I enjoyed a lot than not.
This is a book which includes various female creators in various medias talking about their loves, lives and passions. We see most 'stories' take up between 1-5pgs and so each ...more
This is a book which includes various female creators in various medias talking about their loves, lives and passions. We see most 'stories' take up between 1-5pgs and so each ...more
As many of my friends and followers know, I very rarely give ratings of 5 stars. Also, I'm not a huge fan of autobiographies, which this collection of essays, prose, comics, and illustrated stories can be viewed as autobiographical. Yet, this anthology really grabbed me. I had to take it in chunks, at times, because many of the stories contained within really hit close to home, and some are just so full of emotion, that I had to take time to process those feelings.
Growing up geeky or nerdy, in t ...more
Growing up geeky or nerdy, in t ...more
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Hope Nicholson is the owner of Winnipeg-based publishing Bedside Press. She's an ardent comics fan passionate about bringing new stories to light, and author of the book "The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen" which shines light on characters forgotten by comics history.
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