Scan barcode
mariellllll's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
kendra_kendra's review
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
mrittghosh's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
kelsiepixler's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Would have rated this book a 3.5 if it wasn’t for the historical context in which it was written. Knowing when this book was written, how revolutionary it was to have a book depict a healthy wlw relationship, the happy ending had me cheering.
Decontextualized, this book would have fallen flat for me. It’s a slow burn. The romance is the plot - not much happens outside of the building of their romance.
Contextualized, it was amazing and absolutely worth the read.
Decontextualized, this book would have fallen flat for me. It’s a slow burn. The romance is the plot - not much happens outside of the building of their romance.
Contextualized, it was amazing and absolutely worth the read.
flintsloveofbooks's review
4.0
I listened to the audiobook of this while driving. The shared narration between Jean Smart and Janis Ian was beautiful and engaging.
elienore's review
I really enjoyed the first two sections, but the plot is so slow and the language decoding was becoming tiresome and I just didn't care to finish it so I'm not.
ajb24's review
4.0
This isn’t the most well-written book I’ve ever read, but it is earnest and sweet. I guess I would characterize the writing style as “simple”. The historical colonial setting was interesting, but I never felt fully involved in the world. It felt like...the old-fashioned things were just quirky aspects to embellish an otherwise basic storyline.
It’s not a novel that makes you think too deeply, but I have to enjoy it because it’s such a celebratory portrayal of a lesbian relationship (i mean, they have setbacks and there’s some awful physical abuse, but Patience and Sarah are so happy in the end to make a life together and throughout the book their love is portrayed so deeply it was nice to read).
What I liked and found interesting was that they consider themselves married. A lot of lesbian fiction I read they are “united forever” or “joined’ or there’s some other way of saying they’ll be together forever, but rarely is it ever stated so explicitly that they think of each other as “wives”. This book was also written in 1969, which makes this aspect even more surprising to me.
One quote I want to save/remember:
“We can be Plato’s perfect army: lovers, who will never behave dishonorably in each other’s sight, and invincible. Let the world either kill us or grow accustomed to us; here we stand.” (116)
It’s not a novel that makes you think too deeply, but I have to enjoy it because it’s such a celebratory portrayal of a lesbian relationship (i mean, they have setbacks and there’s some awful physical abuse, but Patience and Sarah are so happy in the end to make a life together and throughout the book their love is portrayed so deeply it was nice to read).
What I liked and found interesting was that they consider themselves married. A lot of lesbian fiction I read they are “united forever” or “joined’ or there’s some other way of saying they’ll be together forever, but rarely is it ever stated so explicitly that they think of each other as “wives”. This book was also written in 1969, which makes this aspect even more surprising to me.
One quote I want to save/remember:
“We can be Plato’s perfect army: lovers, who will never behave dishonorably in each other’s sight, and invincible. Let the world either kill us or grow accustomed to us; here we stand.” (116)
sugandhadeva's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
magz_'s review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0