I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this collection. Touching on a huge range of topics (like BIPOC study abroad programs, fatphobia in the medical industry, gentrification in Seattle neighborhoods, death doulas, and who to call instead of the police, to give a tiny sample), Reagan Jackson provides an honest and uncompromising voice that anchors the reader in exploring complex, difficult, and uncomfortable subjects. As the title states, she is a journalist, and she brings journalistic skills to the table in terms of quickly getting to the heart of large-scale issues and capturing a lot in the small package of a single piece. Many pieces are short but offer opportunities for far longer reflection.

But, as the title also states, she is an unexpected journalist. There are different ways you or she might explain how that is the case. But I'd put it this way: I recall in one of the pieces here there was a quotation saying that in journalism a white bias is often mistaken for objectivity. In the version of mainstream, "fact-based" journalism we are most familiar with, the journalist attempts to erase themself from the picture in the name of eliminating subjective bias. The conflation of this act with objectivity creates the illusion that the subjective bias that does remain is not a subjective bias but a series of facts. However, Reagan Jackson, a Black woman, is unafraid of inserting herself in her stories: her emotions, her motivations, her fears, her body. Rather than coming off as self-absorbed or unrefined, this quality grounds and lends an honesty to the writing.

We come to know not only about the subjects Reagan Jackson writes about but about the woman herself, and these things do not detract from but support each other. It is as if we could be reading a story that is so simple, so cut and dry, but because the writer is willing to listen to and be honest about her feelings, we delve into a deeper level of complexity. And it is because we get to that place that the short pieces continue to resonate even after being read.

It is the balancing of this honesty and embrace of complexity together with the journalistic skill of pulling a story together into a tight package that makes this a special read. Because, like the author, I live in Seattle, and many stories take place in or are even about Seattle, I felt a special interest here, but with the strength of the writing, clarity of perspective, and scope of topics, it is clear that this is not just some special interest book, but something that anyone could benefit from reading.