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3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
This book has an interesting premise. A woman thinks she is about to die and thus writes a letter to each person in her life telling them what she really thinks of them and she comes out as gay. Naturally these get posted but Frazier doesn’t die after all and thus has to live with the consequences of coming out in a town which is rather horrified by her admission. The language of the book is very dated and so are the politics, some parts come across as particularly insensitive to the modern reader but the story itself is quite enjoyable. I do think that the main character being characterised as a lesbian is a misnomer as she admits that she is bisexual and expresses interest in men but equally I don’t want to get into the questioning of a fictional character’s sexuality. She states throughout that she is a lesbian. I do think perhaps it would have been better to have her be gay or have her be bi and thus let her interact with the different responses that entails (especially involving bi erasure etc) rather than flirting with both. Now I come to the final fifty pages. It was the most bizarre ending to a novel I have ever read. 50 pages before the end Frazier goes to Mount Olympus and has a threesome with Venus and Mercury. I’m not kidding. It’s a really jarring end to a conventional novel and it isn’t even supposed to be a dream sequence exactly. I felt like someone had pieced it together from a different book entirely. It tries to be philosophical but with some takes that are... problematic to say the least. So yeah. A strange book. I would have preferred a resolution to the main story rather than such explicit sex scenes with deities.
This book was actually enjoyable and amusing at times, especially the first half, but the second half was just a mess.
First of all, why all the trouble to categorize the heroine into the role of lesbian when she was really bisexual?
Not that it matters anyway. You are what you are and you love who you love. I'm just saying this because the author had Frazier herself and pretty much every other character call her a lesbian as if she couldn't stress that enough.
But Frazier herself said she was into both genders and if that ending really happened and she wasn't majorly tripping due to her fall, she had sex with a man and she clearly took pleasure from it.
What was with those chapters about the Greek gods anyway? Weird!
Bruh what in the hell did I even read. The last like 50 pages were incomprehensible. I just do not get it at all. What in the heck.
I’m honestly so confused.
It’s been over 15 hours since I’ve finished this book and I still can’t believe it. I’ve never seen a 180 like that in any book.
The last 50-80 pages are incomprehensible. I skipped to the last chapter because I just couldn’t take it anymore.
I didn’t need a payoff from a fucking painting! I would have liked to see a payoff from, oh I don’t know, maybe the main characters????
Yikes I’m so mad. Wowwwwww. I honestly can’t believe this was published with that ending.
I’m honestly so confused.
It’s been over 15 hours since I’ve finished this book and I still can’t believe it. I’ve never seen a 180 like that in any book.
The last 50-80 pages are incomprehensible. I skipped to the last chapter because I just couldn’t take it anymore.
I didn’t need a payoff from a fucking painting! I would have liked to see a payoff from, oh I don’t know, maybe the main characters????
Yikes I’m so mad. Wowwwwww. I honestly can’t believe this was published with that ending.
Not your deathbed confession is out to all..... but you live
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I checked this out because it was available on my library app and I do enjoy 1990s lesbian fiction. However, I found most of the characters to be tedious and barely more than caricatures. There's a lot of outdated language and ideas about sexuality and race. A few classic humorous gems from Rita Mae Brown scattered throughout did make me laugh, but that did not quite outweigh the cringe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Lesbophobia, Outing
"Venus Envy" was... interesting. I enjoy reading older books featuring LGBT characters, if for no other reason than historical value. And the majority of the book was pretty good. I thought the subplot with the painting was strange, but I didn't think much of it. Until the last few chapters. Wow, did the story go off-the-walls bizarre. Not going to lie, I skimmed the last few chapters. Too weird for me. It went from historical-ish fiction to fantasy in one fell swoop, and I was not a fan. However, up until the point, the story was enjoyable.
Hard to write an objective review here. I read this sooooooo many times in my 20s that no denying I was kind of skimming through the more talky sections, looking for those favorite parts. The characters do talk a lot. I can't remember the experience of reading this for the first time, but obviously it was good because I kept coming back to it!
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This started off strong, with a dying woman sending off final missives to her loved ones and then (SPOILER!) not dying. After that it just got trite and hackneyed, and a check of the copyright date explained why I felt the theme (gay woman coming out) seemed so dated. (1994 -- a lot has changed in 20 years!) I abandoned it to seek something better-written...
I loved this and i can’t wait to read more of Rita Mae Brown‘s work! It was a bit dated at times but nonetheless a lot of fun to read with one of my favorite main character in recent memory.
(if given the chance i‘d have a threesome with Mercury and Venus too)
(if given the chance i‘d have a threesome with Mercury and Venus too)