Energetic ... A brisk history ... Creative usage occurs most frequently in messages related to sex...but...Mr. Houston doesn’t do much more than state the well-known fact that emojis for eggplant, taco and peach have been imbued with sexual connotations ... Upbeat ... A celebration of emoji’s cultural triumph.
Houston writes with humor and an easy-going tone, plus a pace that is smooth and seems effortless, keeping readers engaged ... Houston’s enthusiasm for the emoji’s creativity, use, and function comes to the fore, and reading the book feels like grabbing a coffee with a friend and listening to them happily describe their most recent interests and discoveries ... Excellent.
[A] fun romp ... Houston skillfully covers the ups and downs of the evolution of emoji ... With a casual approach that suits the content, this is equal parts informative and delightful.
Pleasurable and well-researched ... Houston can get deep in the weeds about the Unicode Consortium’s internal squabbles, which leaves less room for some other fascinating byways, like how emoji has impacted grammar and communication ... Charming.
