Commute by Erin Williams tore me to shreds as soon as I looked at the first page. The themes of motherhood, femininity, empowerment, and trauma are all explored in this graphic memoir reflecting on women's power over their bodies in public spaces and the experiences that come with that. The hand-written text made the memoir feel like a note written to me in bits and pieces with casual illustration. While dense and intense, the themes explored felt familiar and uncomfortable with poetic verse. I wrote down too many quotes about taking up space and how men have treated women in public spaces to even begin to share with my friends. I really do hope this graphic memoir gives Erin Williams the platform she needs to start a conversation about taking up space and owning it - being fiercely unapologetic.

Warning: There are graphic drawings (just human anatomy but still) that I was not prepared for. You've been warned.

I appreciate what the author was trying to do but I just couldn't relate to much of anything. This is her personal diary basically. I've never had a problem with alcohol. I don't live in the city, I'm not often on the subway, I've never been in much of the situations she's been in. I'm glad to feel invisible in crowds or with strangers, it doesn't make me feel lonely. Maybe because I have someone to go home to, who makes me feel visible and desirable. And that correlation I don't care for. As a woman in public you're either visible and desirable or invisible and not desirable. Nahhh. I think you're pegging all men to being one way and that's not true. Also, apparently being fat means you're not desirable and that's pretty rude and bullshit. And the author is a pretty self-destructive, self-sabotaging person. So most of the book made me sad. For her, for her experiences, for some of the men she dated. Also, I can't get behind "I don't read men." Uhh yeah okay. But if a man said "I don't read women" he would be raked over the coals.

I'm completely hooked by the premise of this book, hence the reason why I requested it in the first place. However, I personally think that the idea was not very well-executed. The pace was dragging and it feels too long at so many points. There were a lot of unnecessary details that don't have any real impact on the plot. I also disagreed with a few lines in this book, but mostly on how it implied that every woman wants to be wanted as if it's a matter of fact. As if the purpose of a woman's existence is to lure man into their way. Lastly, completely subjective, I'm not a fan of the art style. It honestly could be better.

Thank you Abrams ComicArts and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Final Rating — 2/5

Commute is a powerful and painful graphic memoir about sexual violence, rape culture and alcoholism. I found it a difficult read at times given the content and witness the protagonist trying to cope with trauma understandably but very self-destructively. The art really reminded me of David Shrigley, and while I couldn't say I liked it, it definitely made an impact and there's a couple of pages that are still haunting me several weeks after reading. This is the type of book I'd love for lot of men to read to understand what it's like to live constantly under the threat of sexual violence, I think it would be very educational.

I honestly don't even know where to begin with this. It's hard for me to criticize a book about another woman's experience with sexual assault. How could I possibly put a rating on that type of bravery and strength? The book itself was pretty average for me though. There were parts I really really loved and parts I absolutely did not like the execution of. I was a little bored reading it, but I still felt it was an important read. It was average for me. The author is clearly a wonderful and strong woman and I commend her immensely for putting her story out there.

In Commute by Erin Williams, the author explains her morning routine to what happens during the day and night. Through her past relationships, sexual partners, and when she was raped and sexually assault also with her struggle with alcoholism.
I could relate to some of what the author had experienced. I feel that a lot of women will be able to relate in some way. If they can't then I am happy, I wouldn't want someone to go through any of the things that happened to the author mentioned in this graphic novel. People who have been sexually assaulted cope in different ways like Williams she drank to deal with it; but also some people don't cope. It's one of the hardest things a person has to deal with.

I adored the concept of this graphic novel but I felt like the execution needed work. The artwork is fine but the overall narrative arc needs some fine tuning.

A beautiful book, and an equally beautiful story. Real and relatable characters, gorgeous illustration. Will recommend this book to my friends.

This is definitely not a book for younger readers, as there is some pretty explicit content. Also, trigger warning for sexual assault, because that is the main topic of this novel.
The #MeToo movement sparked many women to tell their stories, and Commute is Erin William’s personal story and struggle. This was extremely emotional and heartbreaking. However I always want to hear another strong woman’s story and how she overcame the darkness of sexual assault. This story talks about what it’s like to be a woman, constantly surrounded by leering men, and how it feels to be seen as a sexual object. Very important topics for today’s society. The artwork was a simple black and white sketch style, and I felt it fit the story well.

On her commute the author reflects on her past and her relationships with men and alcohol. It is quite hard to read as she explores her past relationships and how she feels as a woman. This is her personal experience of the world. It is powerful and the artwork manages to convey her experiences through simple black and white drawings.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

In a great many ways, <i>Commute </i>by Erin Williams was one of the most uncomfortable books I have ever read. To some degree, this is warranted and necessary. At other points, it's too much and not quite as insightful as I was hoping it would be. Very much so, <i>Commute </i>is about one woman's experiences. And while it is very possible for many of us to relate to much of what is brought up throughout the course of this graphic novel, it's also very clear that this is an incredibly personal story and it is not one that quite sends the message she is aiming for.

Ultimately, I think that the biggest piece of this book that left me feeling the most uncomfortable, and not in a way that sparks progress and important discussion which is something I could have respected, is how she almost consistently seems to point out her own form of self-blame. As Williams points out the problematic pieces of rape culture and the way society in so many ways hates and shames and devalues women, she manages somehow to do it as well. And for a book that is supposed to be calling out problematic aspects of our patriarchal society, it's really damaging to have it also commit some of the same crimes it is trying to call out.

And overall it is true that much of William's commentary is rather insightful, that it heads in the right direction and begins the conversation it should. But somehow she manages to discredit herself and that bothered me immensely while reading it. Though I can understand how she feels her alcoholism contributed to what she went through, to have it also serve as a way for her to blame herself for her situations left me exceedingly uncomfortable.

At the end of the day I'm left not sure how to feel about the book as a whole. I feel as though it's more memoir and cathartic for the author than it is an important commentary on the problems of society. And I guess, in that sense, I was really looking for something much different.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

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A disturbing memoir that unfolds slowly. Williams bares all and brings us with her through all her most vulnerable moments. An impressive and important work.

***Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!***

The concept of this book was wonderful, however, the execution left a lot to b desired. The art style freaked me out a little bit, but I know that's a very subjective thing. However, some of the illustrations looked like chicken scratch without any effort put in.

The chronology was also very strange, in that 1/4 of the book was just talking about her morning routine and then she kept relating everything to her sexual assault. Which... I get it, that's the point, but it was starting to feel a little bit awkward.

Also, I was not warned that there were going to be graphic illustrations of genitalia, which I can normally handle, but it definitely caught me off guard, and I think warnings for that (especially in graphic novels) are VERY important.

Finally, there was a lot of fatphobia and talking about wanting to be beautiful and losing weight and whatnot, and that definitely also rubbed me the wrong way. I wanted to like this book, but it definitely fell short.

The book Commute, is a must-read. We as women have all in some shape or form have had the related experience as Erin Williams. Female shaming is critical, and if allowed to fester can be malignant.

#commute #netgalley

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book!*

"Our traumas become our shame. Shame is an instrument of oppression." (285/286)

In "Commute", Erin Williams not only describes her day from waking up to coming back home, but also lets us travel through her traumas (#metoo). Past boyfriends, rape, sexual harassment, the male gaze, sexual violence and also alcoholism. It's all there. And the terrifying thing is: as a female, I have been there, not everywhere, but I've been on the train and I've been either been gawked at (close fitting top or some sort of neckline) or invisible (but safe)... Sexual harassment seems to be a shared trauma of persons identifying as female and it is hard to see that another author, in another country, with a very different body has made some (and more!) experiences, bad experiences, as I have.

I do not agree with everything the author assesses, yet many things ring very true, like the quote above. In times of #metoo it is important to not being shamed into admitting some sort of guilt even though one is guiltless. Yes, that top might have been a bit revealing but that's no excused to be touched without consent. Still it feels like that. This book is her reclaiming her body and life, taking it away from men to rate and violate it.

In addition, I have to applaud Erin Williams for her candor, her honesty and how very intimate insight we, the readers, have into her present and past life. Writing and drawing her experiences and enabling me to be her for a day (= the read) is rewarding, terrifying, sad, and beautiful. This author has a beautiful mind and it makes me sad that she has been hurt so very often.

5 Stars

Commute illustrates a personal story of the #metoo movement, covering street harassment, sexual abuse, and the ways in which women have been conditioned to tolerate horrible actions of men - and internalizing it as a shame. I thought the art was well done and there are wonderful moments of clean pages with just words - no art - that stand out. The author shares her struggle with alcoholism, mental health, and new motherhood, covering a lot of ground in a pretty brief and sparsely written graphic novel. It's a tough and very personal read, which could make it difficult to pick up the subtle ways in which these issues are true in everyday life. Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

My feelings are all over the place on this one.

** Trigger warning for misogyny, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and drug use. **

“shame is an instrument of oppression.”

The first time Erin Williams was raped, she was sixteen years old. Her assailant was a guy named John, the older cousin of a friend who dragged her away from a beach party and into a neighboring yard. She was drunk, and it would be decades before she had another sexual encounter – consensual, forced, or in the so-called “gray area” between – while sober.

COMMUTE: AN ILLUSTRATED MEMOIR OF FEMALE SHAME is a graphic memoir that follows Erin during a typical weekday commute: wake up, get ready for work, walk the dog, take the train to work, put in a day, hustle home. During this time, we witness the dozens of microaggressions that are part of existing while female in a public space. She also reflects on her sexual history, which includes both regrettable drunken hookups with random dudes as well as a string of sexual assaults and rapes. We also follow Erin through her struggles with alcoholism and her decision to become a mother, thus reclaiming her body in a sense.

The result is mixed at best. Some parts worked for me, while others didn’t. Her thoughts on mansplaining, the acrobatics we as a society do to excuse away the boorish behavior of powerful men, the dehumanization and objectification of women, male power and privilege – these are all things I can get behind. However, she kind of lost me when she started talking about “gray areas,” and about her own (alcohol-induced) culpability in her own assaults (or regrettable hookups, or whatever she chooses to call them).

To wit: the chart on page 258 that seemingly ranks sexual assaults from the typical stranger in the alley boogeyman (“murder,” “coma,” “head injury,” “other injury,” “stranger”) to supposedly less clear instances of…I don’t even know what (“please just let me finish,” “it won’t happen again,” “I already said I was sorry”). As if that’s not bad enough, the headline reads, “We’re rarely all victim. For a long time, I thought rape was sex. Where, exactly, do you draw the line?”

I can tell you with 1000% certainty: at absolutely none of these points. None of these scenarios = “the line.” Everything Williams has described here constitutes rape, and in none of these cases do the people on the receiving end share any responsibility for what some human piece of trash chose to do to them. Period. Full stop.

Honestly, the whole thing is appallingly reminiscent of Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” comment of 2013. I can’t even with this.

In case you couldn’t tell, I’m getting incredible frustrated and worked up, all over again, just writing this review. Williams’s observations elsewhere are generally pretty insightful, which is why I’m having so much trouble wrapping my head around the victim blaming. Perhaps she’s still grappling with internalized shame and self-blame, or maybe I’m just misreading her commentary? Yet we live in a society that so openly and unabashedly hates women, including rape survivors, that it behooves her to get it right. Like crystal clear, you absolutely cannot misinterpret my point right. Sadly, this is not it.

I loved the humor and pathos contained in Erin Williams's Commute. I also loved the way Williams used images in this story. The pages are mostly taken up with one splash page image, which is a unique experience that uses few words on several pages.

Commute is an engaging and thoughtful graphic novel read for young adults and the older crowd. Well done.

I liked this book! I feel like it touched on some important topics that some people could benefit from.
I didn’t connect with it in that way but I did enjoy my time reading the book and liked it. The art wasn’t mind blowing but I think it worked with the type of novel it was.

Difficult to read, the author recounts her previous trauma and being broken and remade into a mother. Unique illustration style places the heavy topic of female shame into an accessible format.