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4.67 AVERAGE
4.67 AVERAGE
life changing. everybody tells you to read it and once you do you understand why. took me a little bit because of how heavy the topics are. i had to power through the beginning, the heaviest part of the book. so tragic and stunning. i was always captivated by the writing. i don’t know how many sentences i underlined. the letter at the very beginning omg.
i could see so much of my life in jess's lived experience i have never seen in any other book. so much thoughts about this book but for now i just want to keep them to myself.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Dementia
Minor: War
Had to give up on SBB the first time through because of how brutal Jess’s upbringing was, but as she gets older her brutalities become rarer. Really good to discuss each section with other queer people, very grateful that Devon+Lucy organized this book club. SBB is a window into a time and history that I am grateful not to live in and when I read this book for the first time I couldn’t help but picture how I’d live if I was born sixty years prior…. Now I think it’s less about how I’d live and more about how the circumstances would make me be - I think the butchness that Jess lives is a product of her society, class and race, and experiences of butchness now are much different without the PTSD that the women* throughout SBB gather. That aside, what I loved most about this readthrough is how much Jess loves - she weeds her girlfriend’s garden, she cooks pancakes for Scottie and Kim, when she hooks up as a man she does so in a way that is unusually caring for the gender she is supposed to be passing as. It’s given me a better insight into my friends who identify with butch masculinity and its (quite frankly) aspirational. I want to read and learn more about queer theory as I enter my post grad existence and this book reentered my life at a time where it was very welcomed.
“When I was growing up, I believed I was gonna do something really important with my life, like explore the universe or cure diseases. I never thought I’d spend so much of my life fighting over which bathroom I could use which bathroom I could use.” -p.279
Please don’t be like me and leave this on your “I’ll get round to reading this one day” list a single minute longer because I promise this book will change your life! … Thank you book club for making me finally get round to it.
It’s available for free as a pdf on Leslie Feinberg’s website, all you’ll need is something to blow your nose on. Go on, do it now. Then go pass the message on.
“‘Imagine a world worth living, a world worth fighting for’
I closed my eyes
and allowed my hopes to soar.
I heard the beating of wings nearby. I opened my eyes. A young man on a nearby rooftop released his pigeons, like dreams, into the dawn.” -p.330
Incredibly moving. Can't recommend this book highly enough.
one day i WILL come back here and write a genuinely decent review but rn all i can do is cry