Roxane Gay comes with her own introduction. The writings included in this compilation titled opinions, offer broad views on current day subjects trending in todays headlines. Very candid views ranging from Trumps reign of , it’s not personal, just business, to minding other folks business and the war on immigration.

Everything Roxane Gay writes is worth a read. I appreciate the empathy and nuance she brings to difficult subjects. This one took me a bit to get through because it is full of hard topics, but well worth a read.

It took me a while to get through this title. I read, processed, absorbed, sometimes ranted, and went back for more. How can someone NOT love Roxane Gay? She's done it again and I can't wait for the next one!

I love Roxane Gay's work especially her nonfiction. I wish this had been original work but it was interesting to read her work throughout the years all in one collection

I love Roxane Gay and this compliation of her many essays and blogs was excellent, it's both a history of recent times and a sense of how things move, and don't.

I will read anything Roxane Gay writes. This was an amazing and powerful collection of essays. It was hard to read parts of it as it was a retrospective over the past ten years, but it was also like revisiting a collective trauma with a most trusted friend and guide. I particularly liked her take on forgiveness and why we don't have to grant it.

5/5 forever.

Thanks to Harper and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly love that this collection of Gay's writings was published in a single volume. She writes prolifically in a vast variety of platforms and it can be hard to keep up with all of her opinions. Even though there is no new content, I think I had actually only read one or two things before this collection. As an avid fan of Roxane Gay this was both shocking and delightful because now I have so many new things to read.

As we approach holiday seasons I think this would make a great gift or selection for a book exchange.

What can I say? Roxane Gay captivates me with every word she writes. Don’t get me wrong, this is not enjoyable to read. It is actually, somewhat painful but deeply necessary. There are no laugh out loud moments, little comic relief, but many moments that made me snort derisively at the reality we live in. Gay is a witty commentator and a keen observer of human nature. She does not give you false hope, but emboldens you to live and love freely, to hold space for yourself while also challenging you to learn more, and to denounce hatred and inequality wherever you see it.

This is an easy one to enjoy if you already appreciate Roxane Gay's writing, and would be a nice entry point for anyone curious about her work. Depending on your level of familiarity and how closely you follow her writing, more or less of these will be new to readers, but it's interesting to see some of them connected in ways they haven't previously been.

Though I had read many of these essays before, reading Roxane Gay's writing is always a gift. Her wise words cover topics such as police brutality, reproductive choice, and race in America. Gay's essays are always smart and well-written, engaging and timely. This collection would be a great choice for someone who is unfamiliar with Gay's work.

Another banger from Roxane Gay, the absolute master at distilling complex arguments down to their simplest, most elegant form. She doesn't waste a word and never comes across as disingenuous. The clarity and force of her opinions are undeniable.

The only slight downer here is that this is a collection of essays that have already been released via major newspapers or websites. I've previously read most of them but I applaud the clever organization of chapters, which made the material feel fresh again.

This was a nice palate cleanser as I continue to wait for new Roxane Gay books.

I will admit I did not read this book cover-to-cover before posting this review, in part because I've read some of the essays in the past and in part because, for me, this isn't a cover-to-cover book. Instead, it is a book I want to keep on my bedside or couch-side table to read a few essays at a time. It is a thorough and interesting collection of Roxane Gay's work, and I appreciated the organization into topical sections. The essays in The Matter of Black Lives and Civic Responsibilities section were particularly insightful and illuminating. All the essays were written with Gay's typical directness and acuity.