Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Dykette: A Novel

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Dykette: A Novel by Jenny Fran Davis

36 reviews

annietaber's review against another edition

Literally so disturbing and for WHAT. I like a dark novel but the sudden body horror was simply too much and wasn’t even remotely connected to the plot or any character development. Shock just for scandal’s sake. I couldn’t recommend it to anyone in good conscience. Also, the characters never revealed who they were. Each action they made caught me off guard consistently; I’d think I knew each character and then they’d react in a way completely unhinged from any prior development or plot. Seemed confused in its vision and goal; instead all I got was that to be a modern lesbian you had to mutilate yourself— literally and figuratively. I thought about finishing just to say I’d read it, but after sleeping on the horrifying porno scene, I couldn’t justify putting myself through that for a book that wasn’t even important to me in the first place.

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brotestantethic's review against another edition

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funny reflective medium-paced

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

2.25

All you really need to know about this book is that the main character calls her vagina her “kittycat.” If you can handle that, you might be able to do this. I was not impressed by the onslaught of gay jokes (as a lesbian myself), nor the absurd characters who would never truly exist. I get what Davis was trying to do. It’s noble and real. It was at times too on the nose and at others way too obscure. And my God…. The lengthy descriptions of clothing are unnecessary and distracting!!!

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kchamp's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

0.5

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cvl_1103's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

2.0

I appreciated the gender diversity of this books and the spectrum of masc/butch identities. I don’t think this book was for me. I found the main character insufferable, although I think that might have been the point. And I found the sex scenes incredibly off putting and gratuitous.

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alysereadsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

This book was recommended to me on Tiktok and I was drawn to a perceived combination of millennial restlessness and LBGT representation. The book is heavily literary and felt dense at times. Overall, I left the book feeling confused. There were some truly memorable scenes but I have never been so confused by a book before.

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camillatd's review against another edition

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funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is an absurd queer melodrama that was undeniably written for queer people, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's one of those books that I didn't always like as I read it, but it has stayed in my head since I finished reading. Davis lays bare the tension and frivolity of performing certain kinds of contemporary queerness, with pithy, startling funny writing. Dykette is filled with hyper-specific queer cultural references, shock-factor lesbian drama, rampant insecurity, and just the right amount of queer discourse.

Thanks to Henry Holt/Macmillan & the author for the advanced copy! This review reflects my unbiased opinion.

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the_lesbrarian's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This disturbing and complex novel is one I will be thinking about for a long time, but will probably never be able to read again. Centered around three very online butchfemme couples on Christmas vacation in upstate New York, Dykette explores the nuances of contemporary lesbian identity through the eyes of a deeply unlikeable narrator, Sasha. We watch relationships unravel into queer body horror at the intersection of exaggerated performance of online and real-life identity.

rep: 3 main lesbian couples, non-binary lesbians, butch/femme dynamics, he/him lesbians, they/he/she lesbians

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