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I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself: A Novel | Marisa Crane
11 posts | 8 read | 1 reading | 13 to read
Dept. of Speculation meets Black Mirror in this lyrical, speculative debut about a queer mother raising her daughter in an unjust surveillance state In a United States not so unlike our own, the Department of Balance has adopted a radical new form of law enforcement: rather than incarceration, wrongdoers are given a second (and sometimes, third, fourth, and fifth) shadow as a reminder of their crimeand a warning to those they encounter. Within the Department, corruption and prejudice run rampant, giving rise to an underclass of so-called Shadesters who are disenfranchised, publicly shamed, and deprived of civil rights protections. Kris is a Shadester and a new mother to a baby born with a second shadow of her own. Grieving the loss of her wife and thoroughly unprepared for the reality of raising a child alone, Kris teeters on the edge of collapse, fumbling in a daze of alcohol, shame, and self-loathing. Yet as the kid grows, Kris finds her footing, raising a child whose irrepressible spark cannot be dampened by the harsh realities of the world. She cant forget her wife, but with time, she can make a new life for herself and the kid, supported by a community of fellow misfits who defy the Department to lift one another up in solidarity and hope. With a first-person register reminiscent of the fierce self-disclosure of Sheila Heti and the poetic precision of Ocean Vuong, I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself is a bold debut novel that examines the long shadow of grief, the hard work of parenting, and the power of queer resistance.
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review
Kitta
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great debut novel set in a slightly dystopian world where you get another shadow if you are convicted of a crime or hurt someone. Shadesters have reduced rights, wish extra time for healthcare and pay more for everything.

Kris (a shadester) and Beau (a NoShad), a lesbian couple, have a baby with a sperm donor and Beau dies during the birth. Kris and is left to raise the baby, who has a second shadow, on her own.

#lgbtbookbingo2024

LeeRHarry This sounds really interesting. 😊 2w
Kitta @LeeRHarry it‘s very heavy on the grief, I really enjoyed it though! I love this kind of speculative fiction. 2w
26 likes2 comments
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Kitta
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“Had she been paying attention, she would have known it hadn‘t happened overnight, that it took a million tiny stabs to bleed democracy dry.”

That hit home a little too hard.

US friends, please VOTE!! I cannot as I‘m here on a visa but I‘m very concerned about the future of the country.

BarbaraBB In Europe I am very concerned too. So yes, please vote 🗳️ 2w
BarbaraJean Ugh, yes! I dropped off my ballot this week 🗳️💙 2w
Kitta @BarbaraJean 😀 yay!! 2w
24 likes3 comments
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Kitta
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#hyggehourreadathon (from last night!).

I started this book about grief. It was on my StoryGraph recommendations and I plowed through about a third of it yesterday.

Beautifully written and devastating depiction of losing your wife at a vulnerable time, during childbirth. The main character struggles as a new mother, alone.

It‘s got a dystopian flavour, and is lgbtqia. Definitely up my alley, thanks StoryGraph algorithm.

#lgbtqbookbingo2024

24 likes1 stack add
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sakeriver
Pickpick

I stayed up until 2AM finishing this book. Set in a near-future dystopian America where the state has cameras in every house and “criminals” are visibly marked by being given an extra shadow, it‘s in part a look at American fascism and the violence and oppression of our carceral culture. But it‘s also very much a book about bow grief lives in us, about the anxiety of parenting, and about the beauty and defiance of queer love.

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ImperfectCJ
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Pickpick

A soft pick for this one. I like that it seems like a book about dystopian society but it's really about grief, love, shame, belonging, and the risks and benefits of resistance. I don't quite buy the kid's precocity, but it's not terrifically outside the realm of possibility (it's not like she's starting a 401K, picking out a barbecue grill, and complaining about her arthritis at age 9, just acting more like a precocious 11 or 12).

47 likes2 stack adds
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ImperfectCJ
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I'm undecided about the tagged audiobook, but 5 stars to this swirly cloud I saw on my afternoon walk today.

dabbe Wow! A hurricane in the sky! 🤩🤩🤩 1y
51 likes1 comment
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sakeriver
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Next

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ImperfectCJ
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I came home from vacation to a bunch of book mail, including the most recent installment of my Tailored Book Recommendations, with titles I'm excited to dig into, and a bunch of books for work, which is mostly awesome because I get to read middle-grade fiction and nonfiction and call it "work."

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rachelsbrittain
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This speculative dystopian novel about a world where people are given extra shadows for whatever infractions the government decides are worth punishing (ie very variable and targeted) was so hard to put down. Told in a stream of consciousness style, a new mother faces the prospect of raising her newborn daughter alone after her wife dies in childbirth and her daughter is given an extra shadow for it. Queer resistance and found family feels.

Riveted_Reader_Melissa I‘ve never heard of this one before…. Stacking! Sounds very interesting 2y
40 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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rachelsbrittain
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This almost stream of consciousness book about systems of oppression and motherhood and family and queer resistance is so hard to put down.

34 likes1 stack add
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julesG
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Pickpick

Dystopian story of motherhood, grief and resistance.

In a US where people are issued an additional shadow for every 'crime' they've committed, Kris is grieving her wife while trying to raise her newborn daughter. The baby was issued her second shadow upon her which lead to her mother's death. Through the eyes of Kris we see how (white) people with additional shadows are treated and how this affects her daughter's upbringing.

Low pick ⬇️

julesG The invasion of privacy and surveillance 'shadsters' have to endure is horrible. But, low pick because we only get to see how awful white people are treated and there are only a few hints at how awful this system is for people of colour. 2y
Andrew65 Well done 👏👏👏 2y
56 likes3 comments