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noturstroganoff's review
A profound gift to queer history and local culture…much else to say.
katetay69's review
4.0
A fast-paced and entertaining read. I kept wanting to binge it and find out what happened next. I laughed out loud a few times and gasped many. The author doesn't hold back and shows no shame which I love. She gives you such vivid explanations of San Francisco gay scene in the 90's without being too descriptive and boring. A lot of the content is quite shocking. I love being entertained by all the crazy and messed up stuff she and her friends did so I don't have to. I also found humour in her saying to justify haste decisions "I figured I would do it, for artistic reasons". However, I did find the last chapter to be disconnected, it has no wrap up or natural end, I still don't get the purpose of it. Overall very fun!
eacolgan's review
5.0
"so the planet of me completed its revolution around the heart..."
"we will drink cocktails so sweet they pucker our mouths, and we will run through the streets in excellent danger."
this book took my breath away, and not just because it was one of the first novels i've ever read that was about dyke culture without being trashy. oh sure, michelle tells a seedy story full of drugs and booze and sex, but what she's mostly telling the reader about is her heart. like [b:Annie On My Mind|595375|Annie on My Mind|Nancy Garden|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388360021l/595375._SY75_.jpg|274128], -valencia- is a story about what it feels like to be a girl in love with another girl-- or in michelle's case, a few others, and what it's like when those loves end. one of the reviews on the back of the book said that in another author's hands the book would have just been depressing, and i have to agree-- it could so easily have been a morbid book about how our ideas of love can't exist-- but instead it's a book about how they do indeed exist, except they come to us in ways we could never expect.
"we will drink cocktails so sweet they pucker our mouths, and we will run through the streets in excellent danger."
this book took my breath away, and not just because it was one of the first novels i've ever read that was about dyke culture without being trashy. oh sure, michelle tells a seedy story full of drugs and booze and sex, but what she's mostly telling the reader about is her heart. like [b:Annie On My Mind|595375|Annie on My Mind|Nancy Garden|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388360021l/595375._SY75_.jpg|274128], -valencia- is a story about what it feels like to be a girl in love with another girl-- or in michelle's case, a few others, and what it's like when those loves end. one of the reviews on the back of the book said that in another author's hands the book would have just been depressing, and i have to agree-- it could so easily have been a morbid book about how our ideas of love can't exist-- but instead it's a book about how they do indeed exist, except they come to us in ways we could never expect.
pajge's review
5.0
loved this one so so much. the way its written, it takes stream of consciousness to a whole nother level. completely unfiltered and real…such a raw, touching portrayal of this time and community. i loved entering this world. it meant a lot to me
victorianhouse01's review
4.0
3.5- loved the Tea’s style of writing but wasn’t a fan of the overall messy nature of the writing
vagaybond's review
5.0
I didn't actually finish it, I lost it in a move and I think it's at my partner's parents' place. My intent was to finish reading it and then mail it to a friend because I said I'd send her lesbian books I had laying around. Years back I moved into a place that someone with an anarchist bookshop used to live and she'd left behind a lot of books. I think that's where I got this, or maybe from some general free stuff swap I went to around 2015ish. Maybe later? I don't know. Anyway.
This book felt like each chapter was kind of a story in itself, a little bit. Just different parts of the protagonist's life. I don't know if this was a self-insert or something by the author, but it felt so real and relatable to me as a young queer person. All the different ways people who even dislike you have impacts on you and the way that things unfold.
IIRC the setting predates the advent of texting. There's a bit in there about how the protagonist and friends would use a photocopier after hours in an office without consent of the boss, to make zines. In order for people to be let in, they'd yell "REVOLUTION" from the sidewalk.
There's another chapter about how a really tight knit friend group dissolved.
There are scenes about comforting someone having a breakdown who you don't know and only relate to on one basis, but it's a basis only people who have been there understand. A person you know only because they are friends with some others you know, run in similar circles or whatever.
The way this is written is so impactful. It leads you to the points of things and their impact without needing to go into the way something feels. You feel it all the same. It's like leading you through an experience and you process it on your own maybe a smaller amount than the book allows you to. Because the protagonist didn't get the whole time either. Things just happened.
There's a lot of casual everyday that means a lot in this.
It feels like getting to know a friend.
This book felt like each chapter was kind of a story in itself, a little bit. Just different parts of the protagonist's life. I don't know if this was a self-insert or something by the author, but it felt so real and relatable to me as a young queer person. All the different ways people who even dislike you have impacts on you and the way that things unfold.
IIRC the setting predates the advent of texting. There's a bit in there about how the protagonist and friends would use a photocopier after hours in an office without consent of the boss, to make zines. In order for people to be let in, they'd yell "REVOLUTION" from the sidewalk.
There's another chapter about how a really tight knit friend group dissolved.
There are scenes about comforting someone having a breakdown who you don't know and only relate to on one basis, but it's a basis only people who have been there understand. A person you know only because they are friends with some others you know, run in similar circles or whatever.
The way this is written is so impactful. It leads you to the points of things and their impact without needing to go into the way something feels. You feel it all the same. It's like leading you through an experience and you process it on your own maybe a smaller amount than the book allows you to. Because the protagonist didn't get the whole time either. Things just happened.
There's a lot of casual everyday that means a lot in this.
It feels like getting to know a friend.
noahbenoit's review
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
3.5
Intense, messy, queer, unreliable so much that i needed a break
yaelvershkov's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
4.5
This book felt like your crazy gay aunt was in town and she's telling you her life story.