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brotestantethic's review against another edition
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!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Sexual content
kchamp's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Sexual content
the_lesbrarian's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, and Medical content
Minor: Sexual violence
emcatbee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This starts off as a fascinating look at gender roles and configuration in lesbian culture as well as general culture, and is an astute look at our influencer culture too, but it's definitely up there with lighter Chuck Palahnuick books in terms of style in the darkness it takes on towards the end - violence and lust intertwined.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
asha_m's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Body horror, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Torture
pollybirdie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So uncomfortable. A train wreck I couldn’t look away from. I felt seen in ways I had never encountered in a novel before, represented in the dramatic “high femme camp antics” of Sasha, yet I also felt like an outsider amongst wealthy east coast queers I could not relate to. I couldn’t put the book down and I felt emotionally drained afterwards. Loved it. Don’t know if I could read it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Toxic relationship
geo81's review against another edition
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
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Infidelity
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Drug use, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Biphobia
Minor: Excrement
womanwill's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Gore, Torture, and Body horror
Moderate: Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship
tellthebeees's review against another edition
challenging
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? Yes
2.0
Sasha is the kind of girl you would feud with on Tumblr and know, deep in your heart, that she's the most annoying person in the world, but ultimately you'd find solace in the fact that she knows it too.
I hated this, then loved it, then GOT it, then Hated it, then really, really hated it.
I think art should be uncomfortable and intense and slimy and weird, and this took that idea and RAN with it.
If you don't care about plot, character development, or naturalistic dialogue, go for it. This book exists in the heightened mind of one intensely solipsistic character who thinks in advanced Sociology of Gender terminology, so fair warning if you're going to be triggered by tumblr/twitter/tiktok chronically online therapy-speak.
I hated this, then loved it, then GOT it, then Hated it, then really, really hated it.
I think art should be uncomfortable and intense and slimy and weird, and this took that idea and RAN with it.
If you don't care about plot, character development, or naturalistic dialogue, go for it. This book exists in the heightened mind of one intensely solipsistic character who thinks in advanced Sociology of Gender terminology, so fair warning if you're going to be triggered by tumblr/twitter/tiktok chronically online therapy-speak.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
megancholic's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
tense
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
4.25
At times hilarious, nauseating, and titillating. This is a book about signifiers, and the convoluted web of symbolism makes me feel a need to read it again, almost instantly after finishing. Get over not liking the characters; you aren’t supposed to like them. Sasha is a delightfully bratty bulldozer, an absolute buzzkill, an inept chess master. Love living in her embarrassingly petty brain for a bit.
MAJOR TW for body horror. The discomfort of these scenes was, for me, an embodiment of the abject shame of queerness and jealousy and of being unable to control how you are perceived, no matter how calculated you are.
MAJOR TW for body horror. The discomfort of these scenes was, for me, an embodiment of the abject shame of queerness and jealousy and of being unable to control how you are perceived, no matter how calculated you are.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror