Reviews

Black Wave by Michelle Tea

noturstroganoff's review against another edition

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4.0

So you’re telling me somebody else works in a bookstore and has a boss named Beatrice but in this story, at the end of the world, THEY get the bookstore???! Living my DREAM???!

The second to last chapter made me cry on BART. Yes, another tearful book encounter on public transportation. Just sublime to read that scene as the train dove under the bay waters and visualize that heady dream of love and fishes at the end of the world.

annauq's review against another edition

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4.0

This book is so, so clever. It’s sharp, it’s darkly funny, and unapologetically queer as hell. It’s the ultimate cleanse after spending way too much time around straights. So, so good.

kaysquireads's review against another edition

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2.0

2.5 stars. Lots of dreamlike and profoundly thoughtful moments that reminded me of the feelings from “Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind.” Potential for the same, but overall didn’t do it for me. Too much happening it was hard to follow (maybe on purpose); the connections also didn’t really connect for me.

nyxnyght's review

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4.0

I've read Blackwave three times, which is a lot for me. I love Tea's descriptions of San Francisco as a teen who grew up exploring San Francisco with great (naivete) curiosity. This book also spoke to me as someone with climate anxiety- the way Tea describes the apocalypses continues to feel more and more real than surreal.

jmcrobbie's review against another edition

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3.0

I… don’t know.
I didn’t find most of this enjoyable or interesting. But the writing was good. The pacing was strange.
But the ending was worth it I think?

asunnybooknook's review against another edition

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5.0

So strange so lesbian so femme-butch so funny

leighbeevee's review against another edition

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5.0

I have a soft spot for Michelle Tea. When I was a baby dyke, I devoured her poetry and Valencia and Rent Girl. I hear rumblings she is problematic, but that might just the loud rustling from the tenderqueer echo chamber.

I found this book compelling and dark. It has a wholly unlikeable main character who does awful things, is completely self-absorbed, an addict, and living in chaotic squalor. Which is, honestly, relatable. I feel like I was this main character in a past life, a few times removed. Her writing on the struggle to give up drinking deeply hit home. I can see this being the way the world ends, give or take a few dream sequences. All in all, this seemed more like a portal than a work of fiction.

pearloz's review against another edition

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3.0

Man, couldn't get over how simultaneously/miraculously selfish and self-unaware Michelle was for the first 2/3 of the book. The final third she was still an obnoxious character, but I'd say the last 10% of the book was pretty great. It's just such a shame that greatness was stifled by 90% ho-hum drek.

hillsax's review against another edition

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5.0

Gritty and thoughtful.

spraffy's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5