Reviews

Crystal's House of Queers by Brooke Skipstone

alyxbrett's review

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

invincibleink's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this story. It was good to see queer representation in a positive and empowered light. The characters go through tough and realistic problems, but the tone is positive. I had trouble with the timeline, which seems too compressed--the whole story takes place over the course of a few days, definitely less than a week, and in that time there are new relationships, found family, and a ton of personal and emotional growth. The teenage characters are able to take a very emotionally mature view of others and their circumstances. Not to say that it's impossible, just that given the issues they had to work through and the short timeline, I would have understood/expended more angst on the way there. I also had difficult with the opening scene, which is maybe more graphic than I would expect in a teen book, at least on the first page. Of course a page later it turns out to be a dream, but it could put off some readers (or scandalize parents, whose teens might benefit from reading the book). I liked the way Crystal's drawings really show her talent and are incorporated into the story as illustrations. I also liked the representation of learning disabilities/differences and the rural Alaska setting.

booknunn's review against another edition

2.0

So, I actually want to give this book a 4.5 stars - I loved the character development and the representation of SPED and queer identities that this book brought. The characters affection and empowering words to each other just made me so hopeful for the future when women can uplift each other. By the end of it, I felt so empowered as a queer woman. The setting (rural Alaska) was new and fresh - it brought a new perspective to a queer community rather tan big city or suburbia as rural Alaska brings on so many other issues of safety, representation, and safe spaces. The only issue I have is that everything that happened (which was a lot), occurred in a matter of a few days. Though i can suspend reality a bit, the quickness and ease of everything being tied up perfectly in a bow was a bit unrealistic. I believe this could have been a trilogy (and one I would have CHERISHED to have) where we could have had a smooth transition into relationships and into establishing Crystal as a true safe space for Alaskan queers. Oh, and i would have loved to wrap up Mac and Summer's journey.

djinnofthedamned's review

emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.5

gwensadventure's review

3.0

Overall, I was feel sort of conflicted about this book. It was startling to read a book with COVID very present in the story, but the author really did capture the experience of Covid in a rural area. I liked the way queerness in rural Alaska is portrayed. I was TOTALLY captivated by the descriptions of Peyton and Crystals art--I want to see it and buy it and commission a piece!! There is an interesting mix of charachters and eventually a really cool dynamic between them all!

While I love a good found family, coming of age, strong female protaganist story, I didn't connect so much with this one. I felt like there was something missing as all the relationships formed and evolved so quickly, conflict almost instantly resolved and it just felt a little hollow to me.

While there are some fun moments, this story covers some really serious topics (think abuse, drug use, abandonment, Covid, etc...). That combined with how much sex they have just made me a little bit uncomfortable reading this book.

laurenmay431's review against another edition

hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

bound4travel's review

5.0

Set in small town Alaska, this LGBTQIA romance/mystery drew me in so much! While it was a bit too fast paced to be completely realistic, if you are able to see past that it is such a beautiful story of friendship and romantic love. The fast paced nature of the story (it took place over the course of just a few days and a LOT happened) kept me turning the pages, but it was the characters that truly made me fall in love with the story. The young ladies were mature, but not perfect. They were each so lovable and I couldn't help but root for them. The representation of queer and disabled teens would be so invaluable to so very many, especially those who may not have support in their own family or environment. I imagine this book would feel like a warm, deep hug.

emmalallenm's review

2.0

I wanted to love this book so much- the chosen family, queer representation, and neurodivergence aspects are what originally drew me to this book. However, there were a lot of things that I didn't like about it that prompted me to give it two stars. I felt like the storyline of Crystal's mom seemed really unrealistic to me, as well as how easily they were able to get rid of a domestic abuser.

The characters did not seem to have much growth aside from Haley. I also felt like Payton in particular was not a realistic high school character- she seemed to have too much knowledge of a myriad of different topics to feel realistic to me.

I think if I had read it in high school I may have had a different opinion, but this felt like the first novel for an author, and I might read more of her work in the future, but I think it definitely has room to grow.

Thanks to Net Galley for providing an advance copy in exchange for my review.

audreykerr's review

3.0

In short this felt like a two part finale of a teen CW show, I couldn't help but not get swept into it.

sassyread's review against another edition

It was fast in the beginning and got very slow and quite boring and the characters are in high school and it didn’t appeal to me much.