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laura_corsi's review
2.0
An interesting essay collection. It moved backward and forward in time with little indication of where we were or where we were going. It made the author's thoughts like swift silver fishes that you could only catch glimpses of before they submerged again. I wish I had been able to read it in print as I think maybe i could have gotten the fishes to hold still for a minute longer, so I could see them. But probably not. And I think this essay collection would resonate more with a younger person, I could not always relate to the main struggle of the author (i.e. getting over her ex-boyfriend). I was like, "get over him already." But that is my own bias. I wanted more about how her native traditions and the wiccan traditions she practices overlap and entangle and maybe cause her cognitive dissonance. But that was not really what this book was about. It was good writing but it was not what I wanted to read about. I would have dnf'd the book if it were not for the strength of Washuta's writing. It was like being on a bus stuck next to a passenger who you have nothing in common with but you get to hear their life story anyway--in the end you are just not sure what to think of the encounter.
hp_reading's review
5.0
“I tell him all this and ask, ‘Am I making sense?’ What I mean is, Do you see me?”
Haunting, hopeful, and heartbreaking. Elissa’s words are so beautiful they force you to see everything in her life that has not been and asks you to see her.
Haunting, hopeful, and heartbreaking. Elissa’s words are so beautiful they force you to see everything in her life that has not been and asks you to see her.
grayjay's review against another edition
3.0
White Magic is a collection of interconnected and spiraling essays that loop through repeating themes, metaphors, and images.
Washuta is a woman who is spiritually attracted to witchcraft and wants crystals and herbs but doesn't want to give white women her money. She writes about men and sexual violence, mental health and trauma, video games, Twin Peaks, and the colonial history of the indigenous peoples and the land of the Seattle area.
Washuta is a woman who is spiritually attracted to witchcraft and wants crystals and herbs but doesn't want to give white women her money. She writes about men and sexual violence, mental health and trauma, video games, Twin Peaks, and the colonial history of the indigenous peoples and the land of the Seattle area.
virginia_vex's review
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Rape, and Toxic relationship
lsparrow's review against another edition
4.0
a collection of essays about indigeneity, trauma, love and magic. I enjoyed the first few the most - a lot ot think about in terms of the colonization of 'magic'.
parksystems's review
my entire reading group collectively decided not to continue with the book / pivot to reading other things on the topics this claimed to cover. the author wrote this very early in a pretty monumental recovery process. it’s very navel gazing, subjective, and just dragging & annoying to read. i hope the writer continues on their journey and gains perspective, wisdom and writes a book with something to offer but this ain’t it.