Tootfinder

Just finished "Once For Yes" by Allie Millington. A phenomenal book dealing with tragedy, gentrification, grief, and community, it's preposterously poetic, but unfortunately has a twisted neoliberal politics lurking behind the scenes that makes me hesitate to recommend it. I enjoyed it greatly, especially the tightly choreographed prose, and the plot was both very well-paced and touching. It's fun for adults but also written for kids, which makes it all the more frustrating that despite touching on gentrification, it valorizes someone who is objectively a pretty scummy landlord, and fails to interrogate land ownership or rent in the slightest. It wouldn't be nearly the same story without the way things wrap up, but that doesn't make me comfortable with the larger messages it's sending, even if I think its messaging about grief is good, including for children.
#AmReading