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jamesvw's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
marissahiggins's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book a few years ago when it first came out and am just now reviewing it. It's so fantastic!! I love queer books by and about queer people, so this one interested me from the start, but the story is truly unique and compelling, centering on a lesbian in San Francisco who records stories from Holocaust survivors. This story is about a romantic relationship, yes, but it's also about generational trauma, history, Judaism, and chosen and found families. It's honestly gorgeous and so moving. I can't recommend it enough!
beccagomezfarrell's review against another edition
5.0
There's so much to unpack in this layered, beautifully written story that takes place in 1990s Berkeley. Whispers of a ghost story intrigue, and then the author lolls the reader into believing all is well with the ghosts of the past until it isn't. The main character pursues her passions and obsessions with preserving the narratives of holocaust survivors while navigating her own upcoming nuptials in a time in which those nuptials aren't legal but the meaning behind them take on all the more significance because of that. The character relationships are complex, yet easy to love, and the unsaids take on more and more meaning in narrative and metaphor as the book proceeds until saying something becomes the point of it all.
Ultimately, what most pleased me about the book was simple being invited as a guest to this wedding and getting to share in joy and hope for a future that prodding the past can solidfy.
Ultimately, what most pleased me about the book was simple being invited as a guest to this wedding and getting to share in joy and hope for a future that prodding the past can solidfy.
lindick's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book. It’s a multi-layered story of a 20-something woman living in the Bay Area in the 90s, preparing to marry her girlfriend while grappling with her Jewish identity, history, and her relationship with her family. I’m a Jewish lesbian in my 20s from San Francisco, so needless to say I found it very relatable!
I bought this ages ago and put off reading it because I thought it would be super heavy, as the main character works at a Holocaust oral history non-profit and it’s a lot about what late 20th century Jews owe survivors. But it ended up being super interesting and not as heavy as I was expecting, although it was heartbreaking at times and I did cry. As a cultural Jew with minimal religious education, I learned a lot and really connected to the intense conflicting feelings of the protagonist. And the current-day wedding storyline added some much-needed levity and romance (even as it had its own drama).
The writing can be intense and sort of over-the-top, which mostly felt very earned (you basically can’t be *too* evocative when telling a Holocaust survivor’s story), but there were times when I was iffy on it. Especially the descriptions of the one Asian character (she’s half-Chinese half-Indonesian, and she’s described as having “hair the color of lava rock and fierce, dark eyes the burning black of a Javanese god of love or war” and showing up “smooth and prescient as a Jakarta dukun summoning a pain-relieving charm”) were just like....what?? I think the point was the narrator was having doubts about committing for life to her fiancé and was putting all this weird sexualized description onto a hot coworker as a distraction? But it felt exoticized/fetishized and awkward.
Aside from that one page, and not fully connecting with the protagonist’s relationship with her grandmother, I really enjoyed reading this, and found it engrossing, moving, interesting, and relatable.
I bought this ages ago and put off reading it because I thought it would be super heavy, as the main character works at a Holocaust oral history non-profit and it’s a lot about what late 20th century Jews owe survivors. But it ended up being super interesting and not as heavy as I was expecting, although it was heartbreaking at times and I did cry. As a cultural Jew with minimal religious education, I learned a lot and really connected to the intense conflicting feelings of the protagonist. And the current-day wedding storyline added some much-needed levity and romance (even as it had its own drama).
The writing can be intense and sort of over-the-top, which mostly felt very earned (you basically can’t be *too* evocative when telling a Holocaust survivor’s story), but there were times when I was iffy on it. Especially the descriptions of the one Asian character (she’s half-Chinese half-Indonesian, and she’s described as having “hair the color of lava rock and fierce, dark eyes the burning black of a Javanese god of love or war” and showing up “smooth and prescient as a Jakarta dukun summoning a pain-relieving charm”) were just like....what?? I think the point was the narrator was having doubts about committing for life to her fiancé and was putting all this weird sexualized description onto a hot coworker as a distraction? But it felt exoticized/fetishized and awkward.
Aside from that one page, and not fully connecting with the protagonist’s relationship with her grandmother, I really enjoyed reading this, and found it engrossing, moving, interesting, and relatable.
lesbianmerle's review
5.0
This has to be one of the most complete, multilayered stories I've ever read. The grace with which we're introduced to the characters and settings allows for not a single dull moment in this book. The exploration of early-2000's gay marriage was very interesting to me. The characters feel truly alive, not bound to a single straight-line plot, but growing and breathing even in the paragraphs where they are not mentioned. Remarkable and thought-provoking!
solskog123's review against another edition
4.0
a beautiful book! i adored the focus on jewish & lesbian identity. some of the characters felt a bit unnecessary and unbelievable (some of the plot points did too!) but i loved the way this book explored love, grief and history. the lesbian friendships and relationships felt very real to me: they made me reflect on my own community. i loved it. <3
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