Reviews with content warning for Grief - Rubyfruit Jungle

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown

10 reviews

hailstorm3812's review

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I think I enjoyed this book overall but it is quite dated. I liked Molly, the pacing, and overall story. I did not like the attitude about race, gender, and the very weird take on butches. It is an easy to read classic and I can see how it got there, but mostly I just wanted read it so next time I am in the bar named after it, I can say I did ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Content Warnings

james1star's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

In many ways I really enjoyed this book and is definitely one I’d recommend, there are some negatives that I’ll discuss at the end but overall it was a very decent read. In ‘Rubyfruit Jungle’ we follow the main character of Molly from around ten to twenty five so is very much a ‘coming of age’ novel. She comes from a poor family in Pennsylvania and later moves to Florida just like the author Brown did so in a few ways it can be read as autofiction as other parts relate to her real life as well. The book chronicles many of Molly’s firsts in life, friendships and relationships and the like but the primary topic is her coming to terms with and acceptance of her queerness. The book is hailed as early lesbian fiction, first published in 1973 and I think despite its flaws the topics mentioned and messages shared are for sure what make this book a star read for me. It was so new for the time it was written, filling a space that was needed and allowing for many queer women to gain representation in books that was otherwise not readily (or ever) available. The discussions around the use of and need of labels was also very interesting and super modern for the time I’d say, Molly is clearly attracted to women despite having iaisons with men and does call herself a lesbian within the book but also she sometimes asks on what’s the point of labels rejecting them so I’m trying to call her queer - side note: I think Brown also isn’t too keen on labels thinking we’re all somewhere on the bisexual scale and I kinda love that but labels do still have their place and importance for some people.

Molly is a very developed character throughout this book as well and this is something I loved. She’s certainly not perfect but knows what she wants, is determined and at her heart I’d say does things for the good. I admired her ‘get up and go’ attitude to things, not wanting to be like other girls - and this is in general, not just because she’s queer but because she wants to see the world and make a name for herself, to rise above the circumstances she was born into - and she was also just really funny. I can picture homophobes reading this in the 70s being shocked at the outward queerness but finding it hard not to laugh out loud too, it’s honestly hilarious at times and Molly is just so damn cunning it’s pure gold. Many other characters were also quite developed, Molly’s mother Carrie definitely fit this bill despite how she may come across, her cousin Leroy too but his character didn’t have as much as a hold on me as the book developed. Her friends throughout were fun and interesting to see like Leota (her first love), Connie, Caroline, Fay, Kelvin (Awgh I wish he stayed for longer I kinda wanted a whole book about his character/storyline), Holly, Polina, and a few others. The writing was decent I’d say, I listened audibly so can’t say for sure but it flowed and I did find the pacing to be done exceptionally well.

I have a few problems and I think I’ll bullet point them.

Fatphobia - there sees to be quite a few references to certain characters (most notably Leroy at the start of the book) being fat and this is viewed in a negative light, it’s also not addressed as the book (and Molly) develops
Anti-butchness (is that a word?) - I did find Molly to view the Butch lesbians in a more negative way and once saying something like what’s the point when you could be with a man, it did develop to be a bit more nuanced and I know the author portrays herself as not the most feminine so it’s likely just the character and reflective of the time
Ageism - Molly seems to not really like or appreciate the older queers all that much, I get most younger people don’t and we leave her around twenty five so obviously her opinion will change but it’s a point
Rape & incest - the parts with Polina and later her daughter Alice were quite uncomfortable to read, when Molly manages to get Polina to have sex with her it’s quite forceful despite her later enjoying the act and it being done to release something she’s been repressing, that being said it’s still not right, later Alice thinks her mum wants to have sex with her and this whole discussion around incest was just totally unnecessary, weird and not handled the best I feel

With these issues being aired I do still think this was a very good book for the time and when I think about it in that context I am confident in my rating and recommendation. It’s obvious that times, expectations and standards have changed and there is now an abundance of more ‘correct’ lesbian/queer female literature but this still deserves its place and I did enjoy it.

Content Warnings

kaitlinlovesbooks's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

kelelelou's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny informative reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

will i recommend this book to people ? yes. did i enjoy reading about

“incest” within the first few chapters as well as rape scenes between the MC and one of her love interests ? not really 😭

however, i was able to relate to and understand plenty of things in here in regards to my relationship with lesbianism as well as the world around me.

Content Warnings

patchy_at_best's review

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challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

oddreads_nicolestins's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would!

No spoilers here, but it's more than just a coming-of-age story. I loved so many of the characters, but I hurt with them too. I laughed with them and I almost cried.

Highly recommend for all those who are curious and for all my southern allies/country-folk allies, LGBTQIA+, or otherwise.

Content Warnings

sib_reads's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

marprokup's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This is an incredibly difficult book to rate. My intuition was to rate it at a neutral 3 stars, but I just couldn't rate it that for a few big reasons. Let me go over both the good and the bad:

This book is marvelously progressive and bold for being written in the 1970s. It is fiercely feminist and queer, yet still holds a bubbly nature with its awkward and funny scenarios. I will wholeheartedly give this book credit for its raw, honest descriptions of coming to terms with being queer, and the blunt desire that Molly has to be an independent woman. This book can make you uncomfortable, but with a humbling familiarity to real human experiences. This holds so much weight and I want to give credit to that.

However, there are just some things I can't let slide about this book:

1. Rita Mae Brown's voice bleeds through the main character too often. This book is supposed to be vaguely and indirectly based off of Rita's life, but through a separate character known as Molly. Molly goes through many experiences that mirrors that of Rita's. However, it feels sometimes that Molly's character blends the line too much of being her own, individual character in a novel versus simply being a vessel of Rita's thoughts. This includes some lengthy sections that are heavily narcissistic and self-righteous that can get annoying to read at times. However this is a gradual shift, since Molly seemed to be much more of her own individual character in the first half of the book. As a result, many of the characters introduced in the last half of the novel seem to contribute very little to Molly's character development or the story (*spoiler* pretty much everyone after Calvin just did not leave much of an impression on me).

2. (Trigger warning) Rape and/or character inconsistencies. These two kind of go together, but alas I can only really explain through **spoilers**: In the second to last chapter of the book, Molly berates another film student who did his final film project on a half people/martian gang-rape. Obviously, yes, not good. However, Molly also pressured Polina into having sex with her earlier in the book while intoxicated. Polina tries to mention this, asking why Molly wouldn't have asked before kissing her, but Molly says it wouldn't have done much good because she would have said no (yikes). This may have been an intentional character flaw, however I find that hard to believe based on the way Molly's character was written. She's not particularly meant to be disliked.

3. (Trigger warning) Justifying (consensual) incest. Consent is justified towards the latter half of the book, but there are two separate incest incidents that are nonchalantly justified and accepted. ( ****Spoilers** until the end of this paragraph**): In the beginning of the book, a young Molly and her non-biologically related cousin Leroy decide to try having sex together since they are both confused by their sexuality. Although the early relationship Molly had with Leroy was uncomfortable, it really drove Molly's character development as she tries to figure out her sexuality at a young age. This wasn't where I was set off and decided to bring down my ranking of the book. It was when Molly is with Polina and her daughter Alice that I really was set off and disturbed. Molly and Alice (who is 16) talk about her and her mother having sex together, and how Alice believes her mom is attracted to her. They both address this as fine as long as it's consensual. I could not seem to find any connection or point to bringing up this conversation of incest. It had almost no contribution to Molly's character development, to the plot, or any other themes in the book. It was simply justifying incest just to... justify it. This is such a traumatizing and disagreeable stance that it just made me upset that it was included at all when it served minimal purpose in the book, but take that as you will.

4. Sex with minors. Don't think I need to say much more about this. Minor (no names mentioned) spoiler: a 16 year old is sexualized towards the last half of the book and a 24-year-old has sex with her.

Content Warnings

marieketron's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

I can see why this is a classic. Like many other readers I really enjoyed how molly is so completely in touch with her sexuality from the get go, and completely unapologetic about it. I also really connected with her revisiting her home town, as I was listening to this while back in nu own hometown. Anna Paquin was very well cast as the narrator. All that being said im not sure I would recommend this to just anyone. There is some really good stuff about male/female friendships, mother/daughter relationships, female friendships and insecurities, queer identity of course. But it all feels a bit rough as well, with everything bleeding out in the open and not much finesse (an effect which I'm sure to took a lot to create). That definitely has appeal and I enjoyed it but it might not be for everyone.

Content Warnings

shewantsthediction's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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