As a dinosaur fanatic and Jurassic Park lover, "Clever Girl" is easily one of my new favorite books!

Since childhood, I have loved Jurassic Park and after reading Hannah McGregor's book I fell in love with it again but in a different way. Delving deep into queer feminism, McGregor gives a fresh perspective to the classic Sci-Fi film using her wit and personal experiences of her journey to body positivity. McGregor discusses gender dynamics, survival and types of power shown in Jurassic Park beneath the political subplots of abuse of power, the controversy of cloning and Jeff Goldblum's chest.

Overall, Clever Girl: Jurassic Park is the queer, feminist, larger girl non-fiction book I never knew I needed and I recommend it to anyone who wants to identify with fierce, powerful and complex women (even if they're not all human).

Thank you, NetGalley and ECW Press for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Loved this, the queer, feminist, larger girl reading of Jurassic Park that you didn't know you needed but will enjoy and think about long after reading. Wonderful!

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Much as the author of this collection of essays, I was absolutely captivated by dinosaurs at a young age, and any chance I had, I’d go to the same museum as she did in Ottawa to view the dinosaur exhibits. Then go home to reread my books about dinosaurs, many times over.

So it’s funny that I was never really taken by “Jurassic Park”. I finally watched the film in its entirety many years after its release. I was annoyed as all heck that the pack of dinos who try to eat the kids were wrongly named, disliked nearly all the humans (except Dr. Sattler and Dr. Malcolm’s dire warnings, and his shirt), and fell in love with the T-Rex because she’s 100% awesome and terrifying.

Which brings me to the essays. Author Hannah McGregor draws parallels between monsters and dinosaurs in pop culture movies and many cultures’ terror of women’s reproductive abilities or the organs necessary for it.

From her childhood of being bullied at school, to losing her mother in her teens, her love of dinosaurs has been a constant, and with her rewatch of all the films, she draws attention to the unexpected imagery and messages supporting a feminist reading of the dinosaurs in the films.

Dr. Hammond buys an island and decides he’ll populate it with dinosaurs, who are returned to Earth through genetic manipulation, then who are controlled within fences, but also prevented from their ability to procreate by ensuring only female dinosaurs are brought to life. The hubris and typical patriarchal view that female bodies and very natures can and must be contained is present, writ very large (e.g. brachiosaurs, etc.), while there is scant understanding that once these powerful, learning animals exist, they can never really be isolated on the island (flying reptiles, people!!) And guess who mostly got eaten? The people trying to commoditized and control.

McGregor does not dissect each of the increasingly weak movies (the Pratt ones being particularly awful, or maybe it’s just his chauvinistic, execrable character?), instead focusing on the first of the series, and where the feminist messaging is particularly strong.

I tore through most of this novella-length book in a few hours, and really enjoyed McGregor’s impassioned, ferocious, and wryly humorous, voice and insight, which has given me a new perspective the movie “Jurassic Park”.

Thank you to Netgalley and to ECW Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Oh the nostalgia for someone who loves jurassic park. This was a well written and funny non-fic examination of the JP franchise. Great for fans of the movies!
Arc via netgalley

In this insightful exploration, Hannah McGregor delves deep into the feminist themes often overlooked in the blockbuster classic, “Jurassic Park”. With sharp analysis and fresh perspectives, this book unearths how gender dynamics, power, and survival are portrayed in the film, from Dr. Ellie Sattler’s quiet strength to the underlying tensions between male control and female resistance in both the human and dinosaur worlds. A must-read for anyone interested in film studies, feminism, or reexamining a cultural phenomenon through a new, thought-provoking lens.

As I'm a dino-fan I never thought about Jurassic Park more iconic dinosaurs as symbols but the representation of something that fascinates me since I was a child.
I'm not sure if the raptor are girls or their gender, I found this book intriguing and thought provoking.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

DNF
I was excited to read thoughtful essays about Jurassic Park and how it represented many things in life. I expected an objective view in the written essays with minimal personal inclusions. But the author put herself into the essays. There are some good points but I couldn't finish the book because it was more about the author's life than the movie.
Also, if we picked this up we would have seen the movie probably many times. There is no need for the movie's full-blown act-by-act synopsis. The read isn't stupid. Using scenes as examples? Perfect. But a full play-by-play.' Please.
If this is what this series of books are like, count me out.

An engrossing close reading of Jurassic Park from a feminist lens, Clever Girl is, well, the perfect book if you love, you guessed it, feminist theory and the 1993 classic that is, despite the continuity error with the T-Rex paddock, the best movie of all time.

I was incredibly stoked to receive this book because not only is JP my favourite movie, but I also love close readings/deep dives into pop culture. I was so curious to see whether the author could shed some new light onto a movie I've watched and thought about and discussed a million times (of course, I've read the book, too, quite a few times, but the focus here is on the movie).

Obviously, I’m not just going to rehash what she talked about, but here are some overarching themes to pique your interest:

- The male gaze and how it still applies to the dinosaurs in the sense of a human-controlling-nature gaze, given we are getting cinematic pleasure from looking at them, AND how the dinosaurs in the movie attempt to break away from the ownership of the gaze thrust upon them (and how that is a metaphor for women refusing to be objects under the male gaze)
- How the uncontrolled breeding in the movie ties into women’s bodily autonomy and reproductive choices
- How monstrosity on-screen often is paired or compared with women’s bodies or (horror upon horror!) giving birth.
- A very fun interpretation of The Last Unicorn
- A discussion on the failure of restoration ecology
- Colonization, of course
- How Chaos, societally, is tied to the monster-feminine, in that chaos is seen as feminine and masculinity is seen as order, and how men attempt to control chaos, and how that ties to patriarchy, especially regarding the line “woman inherits the earth”
- Chronology and teleology and human hubris
- The ethics of care

There is other stuff, too, but that is what I highlighted in my ebook /can remember!

Now, I will say, despite all these themes, it does feel a bit short (like short enough to read in one sitting), and the arguments in it are rather episodic. While there was cohesion of theme, I did feel it could have been longer or been more of an over-arching concept with these chapters brought in as proof or examples. It was less one argument and more bitty contemplations about the same piece of media. Is this a problem? Not really!

I very much enjoyed it! The writer has a very engaging and entertaining style that draws you in, and I found myself laughing as much as going, "Hmm, good point."

If you're a fan of critical thought, deep dives, Jurassic Park, and my clever girls the velociraptors, you should check this out.

I don’t think I was the intended audience for this. I tried my best to keep an open mind, but the entire argument left me cold. It didn’t feel like it was taking a fair and in-depth look at the real world. That said, it was a funny premise and a way of making the very important arguments of feminism through a different lens.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher ECW Press for an advance copy of a collection of essays taking a new look at a classic movie that seems to be about far more than dinosaurs going on a rampage.

Unlike many I was never a huge fan of Jurassic Park. I am exactly a fan of Spielberg, unless Indiana appears in the title, so when I saw it I was impressed by the special effects, unimpressed by the story. In all honesty I wasn't that much a fan of the book, and in fact while I can remember the first book, the Lost World Sequel escapes me. And the film sequels, I can remember the actors, but nothing about the plots. The remakes, I won't even go into, not for me is the kindest thing I can say. I can see though why many loved it, my brother who is six years younger considers it one of his favorite films. I haven't seen the film in its entirety since it came to home video. I have stopped to watch snippets on television, hanging on till the next commercial. That might have to change, as this book has given me a new interest in the film. Clever Girl: Jurassic Park by Hannah McGregor looks at the movie that to paraphrase another movie tagline made one believe a dinosaur could run, hold grudges, and chase kids, from a very different point of view.

The book starts with a portrait of the author as a young dinosaur fan, discussing the love and interest that McGregor had in dinosaurs, and seeing the movie for the first time. The book is broken into essays with each on reflecting on a different part of McGregor's life and the view of the dinosaurs in the movie as females, created my mad male scientists, to be docile in many ways, and yet violent enough to give jumps scares to the people coming to see them. However not violent enough, nor able to escape from the constant monitoring the part has on these creatures. Dinosaurs as trapped in the male gaze. In a way a making of traditional wives, who eat, make babies and look good for the people who come, along, without a thought of breaking free. Until they do. McGregor mixes past life experiences, modern feminist thought, movie magic and quite a bit of humor to support her premise.

As a film person I love reading books about movies even if I am not a fan. This was not the kind of book that I expected, but I think for that reason I enjoyed even more than I expected. There were plenty of facts about the film, with a few explanations about why the film made some mistakes. Mistakes that were more for dramatic purposes. While I enjoyed the film discussion, and the feminist writing, what I enjoyed most was the parts where McGregor discussed the life McGregor had, growing up, coming to terms with things, and finding acceptance. The writing is really well done. McGregor can craft a sentence that might seem odd or strange in the beginning, but by the end makes one a believer. This is not a big book and it moves well, never bogging down, and never seeming like a lecture. And a book that really changed my mind on a movie, one that I only thought about when I saw ads for the remake.

This is the first book I have read by Hannah McGregor, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. A different way about learning about feminist and queer theory, and one that might open a lot of minds who didn't expect it.

As someone who loves Jurassic park and has since she was a kid, and someone who’s avidly a feminist this was everything I hoped it would be and more. It took me a little while to get into it but I had a great time and it ended up being a great, witty, fun quick read.

Clever girl indeed! Jurassic Park is one of my all time favourite reads / watches so this was a must read for me. So interesting, funny, and thought provoking; loved it!

<i>ARC Provided by NetGalley<i>

This book has an interesting angle - a metaphor or connection to the female dinosaurs in Jurassic Park and female rage and queerness. The author makes interesting connections and in reality it is more of a launching pad for musings on what it is to be female and queer stuck in systems that try to control and contain the rage. Interesting essay overall.

Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for an ARC and I voluntarily left this review.

I have always believed that Jurassic Park is an incredibly rich text, and this book proves that without a doubt. There are so many interesting angles to take when examining this movie, and I delighted in every one of them. I didn't know I could love Jurassic Park more than I already do, but this book took me there.

Clever Girl by Hannah McGregor is longform essay arguing that the classic film, Jurassic Park, can in fact be thought of as a queer, feminist story.

I picked up this book because I love Jurassic Park, feminism, and arguments that seem so outlandish they might actually be on to something. McGregor argues this film about dinosaurs reflects a lot of cultural view rooted in Western patriarchy and white supremacy. She discusses monstrous women, queer identity, nature and grief in a very engaging manner. Reading this book felt like having a conversation with your really smart friend who has just finished a degree in literature and philosophy (in the best way).

Although I think McGregor made some interesting links between the themes explored in Jurassic Park to ongoing arguments in the real world, she anthropomorphised the dinosaurs too much. Labelling them as queer, femme, voracious icons is inherently human thing to do. What you want these animals to represent versus what they actually represent is very different. Maybe the dinosaurs imply something thematic within films, but in a scientific/ecological/historical context, dinosaurs don’t ‘represent’ anything. She also made some sweeping statements about the study and practise of ‘Western ecology’, when what she meant was American/Canadian ecology. Western European ecology is very different and her lack of recognition of this flawed some of her fundamental arguments.

Ultimately, this was a unique essay. I learnt a lot, have many take away arguments and counter arguments, and I also really want to rewatch Jurassic Park.

Thank you to Netgalley and EWC Press for the ARC.

Clever Girl is the feminist analysis of the hit 1993 movie Jurassic Park that you didn't know you needed. Starting from the premise that this classic dinosaur film can actually tell us a lot about how our culture views women, monstrosity, and nature, this brief read is full of incisive insights and presented in a wryly humorous, pop culturally informed style. This book certainly made me rethink one of my favorite films and has primed me to evaluate media more critically as a result, all while keeping me interested and entertained.

For those who like trips down nostalgia lane mixed with philosophical analysis. A fun time to be had by all.

Any reason to re-watch Jurassic Park is always welcome, so I was glad to read Clever Girl by Hannah McGregor. This is a very smart, humourous feminist interpretation of the movie, which is well-written, and something I greatly appreciated.

I have read several of the Pop Classics books from ECW, and this is the first one that I've not loved. Most of my issue with this book comes with the way it's loosely connected to the premise that it states - that "Jurassic Park", the movie, is a story of feminism and queerness. I think that would have made a great book, that's the book I thought I was picking up to read. And there were parts of the book that did deal with that. However, I felt like the connections made to Jurassic Park were tenuous, unless it was one of the more explicit connections from Laura Dern's character's dialogue.

I felt like "Clever Girl" jumped all over the place and I had a really hard time staying focused on the book due to this. There was a lot of interesting stuff in here, but it just didn't connect to the thesis set out at the beginning. Had I gone in to the book expecting more of the author's personal reflections on queerness and feminism, connected to various pop culture totems, I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more. There were parts I highlighted and that made me laugh. But as a book connecting Jurassic Park and the ideas of feminism and queerness, I felt it was lacking.