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2.94k reviews for:
Stone Butch Blues: 20th Anniversary Author Edition
Leslie Feinberg, Leslie Feinberg
4.67 AVERAGE
2.94k reviews for:
Stone Butch Blues: 20th Anniversary Author Edition
Leslie Feinberg, Leslie Feinberg
4.67 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I see parts of myself reflected through this book. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
what a life changing read. i learned so much and this encourages me to seek out more stories like this, especially from black and brown lesbians. when i first started reading it, i couldn't put it down. it's really engaging, despite how heavy the subject matter could get. i can't recommend this book enough
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide
I find it hard to write a review on this queer classic masterpiece. I’m so glad that people like Jess have been strong enough to survive for us to be able to live. I’m devastated to think about how Leslie Feinberg would see the world today.
Butches are the angels of our world. I've never cried as much reading a book as I have this one. I don't think I'll ever have the words to summarize all the big feelings I have for this novel. It is just so so important, so real, and so devastatingly heartbreaking.
I love butches.
I love butches.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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:
No
...
I don’t think any of the words I’ll write can explain how potent this book is and how deeply it’s become rooted into my sense of self and identity, it’s not surprisingly that many lesbians call this required reading lol.
Leslie Feinberg’s Stone Butch Blues is a semi-biographical telling of a lesbian and butch Jess (I’m aware of the irony of me, a fellow Jess, writing this) and her journey from childhood to adulthood, and the many complexities in her life. It’s a raw, heavy novel that at times made it very difficult to read, but so beautifully manages to draw on aspects that Feinberg herself experienced and saw within hir life.
The first 100-130 pages of this book are hard to get through, due to its descriptions of homophobia/lesbophobia, sexual assault, racism. The events are difficult and explicit and do not soften the blows they deal as you read. Although they aren’t extremely detailed, it is hard to forget that these scenes are almost directly taken from Leslie’s own experiences and eye-witness. The portrayal of how lesbians of all ethnicities and backgrounds were treated back in the 50s, all the way up until the 90s, is both one of solidarity and tension. Feinberg does not hesitate to show how racism exists within our own community, and that judgement is not reserved for those who are cis, heterosexual and white.
As much as this book talks about violence and systemic abuse, it was never a story about pain. Despite the narrator- Jess’- faults and flaws, this is a story about community and family, hope and love. It is a story about the isolation we face in our own community, and overcoming adversities to find something worth living for. The relationships that Feinberg writes about are entangled and messy, painfully human. There is a real sense of knowing these people, whether you see them in the people around you or within yourself.
I’ve ran out of words (like I thought I would) but all I can say is I adore this book. Please read it.
Leslie Feinberg’s Stone Butch Blues is a semi-biographical telling of a lesbian and butch Jess (I’m aware of the irony of me, a fellow Jess, writing this) and her journey from childhood to adulthood, and the many complexities in her life. It’s a raw, heavy novel that at times made it very difficult to read, but so beautifully manages to draw on aspects that Feinberg herself experienced and saw within hir life.
The first 100-130 pages of this book are hard to get through, due to its descriptions of homophobia/lesbophobia, sexual assault, racism. The events are difficult and explicit and do not soften the blows they deal as you read. Although they aren’t extremely detailed, it is hard to forget that these scenes are almost directly taken from Leslie’s own experiences and eye-witness. The portrayal of how lesbians of all ethnicities and backgrounds were treated back in the 50s, all the way up until the 90s, is both one of solidarity and tension. Feinberg does not hesitate to show how racism exists within our own community, and that judgement is not reserved for those who are cis, heterosexual and white.
As much as this book talks about violence and systemic abuse, it was never a story about pain. Despite the narrator- Jess’- faults and flaws, this is a story about community and family, hope and love. It is a story about the isolation we face in our own community, and overcoming adversities to find something worth living for. The relationships that Feinberg writes about are entangled and messy, painfully human. There is a real sense of knowing these people, whether you see them in the people around you or within yourself.
I’ve ran out of words (like I thought I would) but all I can say is I adore this book. Please read it.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this book can be very slow and overly verbose where it isn't necessary, but it is also far and away the biggest book for butch representation ever, especially stones, and their relationship with femmes and women who are in sex work, and the queer scene of the 60s through towards the 80s. It can be extremely harrowing to read and know our history is as bleak as this, but also god there was so much community and love and people were imperfect but god they loved each other the best they knew how. and there's such a focus on butches, in how butches feel, in the way that their emotions are strangled up through their throats, in the way that butches needed to be strong to survive, and still faced huge blowback from their own community. butches who feel of their gender as I do, feel od their minds as I do, oh it's so lovely to find media which represents you even when the media is imperfect.