Reviews

So, wie du bist by Camille Kellogg

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chloejen's review against another edition

1.0

(1.5) i am so aggressively in the majority i feel like this might be a me problem but oh boy. i really wanted to like this book. i really did. unfortunately, i didn’t.

this book is a prime example of why “show don’t tell” is generally advised… and not in the good way. people’s sexualities, races, and hobbies are pigeonholed into their introduction, making the characters one dimensional and the diversity feel forced. most of these labels were brought up once in their description and never again. it wasn’t a part of their character, it seemed like they were just tacked in for arbitrary diversity brownie points.

the main romance felt very two dimensional as well. i don’t think the “oh but she was into you this whole time” works very well in this scenarios because there were no hints up until then. it felt like they went from hating each other to professing their undying love to each other in a couple pages.

tldr nope not for me

mpatterson610's review against another edition

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4.5

Well written, moved along at a good pace, but there were a couple small threads left undone at the end that I wanted resolution for. It had a lot of good things- friends holding each other accountable for being good friends, nonbinary characters who used they/them pronouns and it wasn’t a whole big *thing*, bipoc characters. And I liked that each character’s race was part of the character description so that white wasn’t the assumed default the way it often is

readingmajor's review against another edition

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4.0

It’s a pride and prejudice adaptation. It’s queer. Nothing super revolutionary about this adaptation plot wise but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The different levels of representation were great, and I really enjoyed the discussion of the importance of having queer institutions telling queer stories for young people. I really connected to Liz’s difficulty reconciling herself with the idea that just because she might not write the next Great American Novel doesn’t mean her writing is any less important or worthy of recognition.

Not my favorite rendition of Lydia, they were the WORST in this one, and I tend to like adaptations that question the victim blamey ness of the source text. Though in the context of the magazine I think this version of Lydia makes sense.

Jane’s conversation with Liz checking her privilege as a white cis woman at the magazine was great, and a wonderful representation of how to hold your friends accountable without worrying about blowing up the relationship. Liz did something wrong, and she has to reckon with the ways her privilege allow her to get through that situation relatively unscathed. Jane is disappointed, and rightfully hurt, and sets a boundary that ultimately results in the relationship evolving for the better.

Also, the final moment of reconciliation with Daria was wonderful and hilarious. I find it interesting that for me the romance between Liz and Daria was the least exciting part of this book for me. Liz’s development is the real reason to read this book.