Books / Fiction / Women /

Shut Up You're Pretty

Téa Mutonji
  • Front cover

Shut Up You're Pretty

Téa Mutonji
$17.95
$17.95 $0.00
Final Sale. No returns or exchanges.
Oversized: This item will be shipped by appointment through our delivery partner.
Overweight: This item will be shipped by appointment through our delivery partner.

Digital download

Immediate access in your Kobo library

Deliver to

In stock online. Free shipping on orders over $49

Buy online, pick up at Bay & Floor

Free pick up today

Find it in store

Out of stock

Found in: FICTION, General Fiction

Check nearby Stores

Earn 90 plum points and save more with plum Rewards. Learn more

View full details

Overview

CANADIAN176 PAGESENGLISH
Promotional Details

Others Also Bought

Previous
Next
Shut Up You're Pretty is a chronicle of millennial malaise, gendered and seaming with a discontent that does not sleep on the status quo of any page. Tea Mutonji is a writer who is assured and measured with a style all her own, holding a hand up to greats like Hurston and Kincaid. She takes back the 21st century in this delicious feast of stories as vivid and taut as they are understated. -Canisia Lubrin, author of Voodoo Hypothesis and augur

Overall rating: 3.6363637 / 5 from 22 reviews.

AI Generated Review Summary

Summary topics

Review topics: [story, book, read, eyes, women, found].

Review highlights

Reviews

I don’t know how I feel

"I had seen this book shared somewhere, probably the gram and saw it was a queer read so added it to my TBR and got it and read it. I love this cover and title. I do think the short stories was a bit misleading. It was the story of one girls coming of age dealing with immigration, poverty, death, grief, sexuality and everything in between. But it was all one person story, which didn’t bother me any. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Loli but also mad that she out herself in situations that were dangerous and that she didn’t have many there behind her for support. I did find all of the things that happened interesting because it’s so far away from what I have lived and known that sometimes it seems unbelievable what others have gone through. I know it’s fiction but it read like a non fiction and opened my eyes on some things. I think there was a lot of value in this story. I would still recommend this read to others."

— JustineVandale (3/5)

Feminine perspective with humour

"I love reading short stories and so it’s great to have a new series of stories to explore! It’s even better when those stories feature women!"

— Linds (5/5)

4 Stars

"This is an intimate and visceral collection of short stories, taking our main character from childhood into adulthood. Powerful and striking, tender, and visceral, this was a gripping collection, that took me by surprise. This is a coming-of-age story, told in a collection of vignettes that take us through experiences of longing, loss, love, friendship, obsession, sexuality, and discovery… I enjoyed it a lot. This was short, but incredibly impactful."

— Ameema (4/5)

Fun stories

"I had a lot of fun reading this book. Good short little stories that get you into the characters."

— Marc H. (4/5)

short stories that are difficult but important

"This book of short stories was a candidate for this year’s Canada Reads competition and has won some awards, eg. the Trillium Award and Writer’s Trust of Canada award. It’s also the first publication by V. S. Books, an imprint (subgroup) of Arsenal Pulp Press, a small but well-known Canadian literary publisher. The imprint was created to feature works by new and emerging young writers who self-identify as BIPOC. The stories are about Loli, whose family has come to Canada from the Congo, and who lives in poverty in a housing complex called the Galloway. The stories are also, largely, about sex, although not in an erotic way. Instead, we read Loli’s experiences with sex as sources of identity, power, belonging, survival, and attempts to overcome intense loneliness. “I tried not to make everything about sex, every act of kindness, every well-wish, every hello. But you go through life with an uncle commenting on your breasts, or your brother’s friend giving you a condom for your birthday then denying it, you go through life…being told you’re pretty, you’re pretty, you’re so f-ing pretty—it gets complicated. ” (from the story “Phyllis Green). These are not happy stories, yet there are pockets of happiness, found mainly in the sense of community within the Galloway. We root for Loli, even as she makes questionable decisions and attaches herself to people who are not good for her. I didn't love this book but it definitely affected me."

— Booklover (4/5)

Not My Favourite

"I found this book to be full of cliches and I don't know why it has won so many awards and was on the Canada Reads list."

— Lainie T. (2/5)

Not for me.

"It did not resonate with me at all but it might with other readers."

— Samran (1/5)

Heartbreaking and uncomfortable, but timely

"Book review: 3/5 ⭐️_x000D_ Genre: coming of age stories_x000D_ Themes: sexuality, race, societal expectations, identity and self worth_x000D_ 📖 Read if you like: How to Pronouce Knife_x000D_ _x000D_ “Bad Things happen to good people and no one know why. Patty told me. Jonas said bad things happen to people who look like me. I told Patty”_x000D_ _x000D_ This is not for the faint of heart. A collection of stories that follows immigrant child Loli as she discovers her own femininity and the commodity of sexuality in a harsh landscape of poverty, depression and trauma. They were often disturbing with a gut wrenching pull at the rawness and loss of innocence each interaction left Loli. Sometimes they were simply youthful curiosities, sometimes they were born out of need to feel something, or to provide financially. It will break your heart at how young the character is as she bounces from one shattering story to another. _x000D_ _x000D_ If only this cover had included the Dutch style dead game pieces with its still life of blooms it would more accurately have summarized the essence of this collection. Tiny deaths with all the life for a reality of an immigrant girl with skin so dark and no place to belong. Set in modern day Scarborough these stories may centre on sexualized experiences, but they are seen through the lens of race, class, power, struggle and loneliness. As Loli seeks connection she is drawn to the bright light shining from others when hers seems dimmed by circumstance and unaddressed trauma. As time progresses she seeks out a balm to her own loneliness. What results is a series of toxic relationships, both friendly and otherwise. Her sense of self and worth slowly seems to fade as each interaction leaves her as the outside element. Someone for fun, but always temporary. Something left, but never truly adored. _x000D_ _x000D_ “There was just something funny about childhood - how it attempts to prepare you for the slaughter, how it fails - how it is decorated like a nursery. ”_x000D_ _x000D_ Fragile at times, gritty and striking at others this was an interesting read. If that quote intrigues you either in prose or meaning this in a new voice for you. Not quite what I expected having picked this up blind, with the cover and title severely impacting my choice, but somewhere along I was hooked in. Like a slow moving car crash, I couldn’t seem to rip my eyes away. _x000D_ _x000D_ I would not really call it short stories as each chapter follows the same character and progresses chronologically, though new characters and places are presented in each story. Many of the stories may make you feel uncomfortable or bereft of hope, but there is a place and time for every story."

— Karisbookclub (3/5)

Canada Reads shortlist

"This was my favourite if the shortlist books from Canada Reads this year! It made it to the final 2, and rightly so! Short stories which are not something I usually pick up, but this collection may make me rethink that in the future!"

— AAC (4/5)

HAVEN’T Read yet

"I haven’t read this yet but it has definitely intrigued me!"

— Loli1970 (4/5)

Q&A

  • Published date: Apr 01, 2019
  • Language: English
  • No. of Pages: 176
  • Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
  • ISBN: 9781551527550
  • Dimensions: 6.0" W x 1.0" L x 8.0" H
Tea Mutonji is an award-winning poet and writer. Born in Congo-Kinshasa, she now lives and writes in Scarborough, Ontario where she was named emerging writer of the year (2017) by the Ontario Book Publishers Organization. Shut Up You''re Pretty is her first book.

You May Also Like

Previous
Next

Recently Viewed