Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

7 reviews

poison_frogs's review against another edition

reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

I enjoyed this a 3 star amount but don't want to rate it 3 stars because it was well written, if a little odd.
Just not the book for me I think. If you are looking for a queer, very literary exploration of growing up and coming of age inside a church, this book is for you.

Content Warnings

michmoo's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

blackberryjambaby's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

thebankofbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

avasadored's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

nicnevin's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A semi-autobiographical account of a life of a child brought up in an extreme religious background and the backlash she received when her lesbianism was discovered, I couldn't put it down. I found my mind wandering through on the fairy tale aspects - I was vastly less interested in those than the actual story.

Content Warnings

christinecc's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

"Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" is only inspired by author Jeanette Winterson's childhood and teenage years, but its title reminds me of the title for Winterson's more explicitly biographical work, the memoir "Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?"

And if I were a smarter person, I could maybe parse the fruit imagery in this book. It warrants a reread, but for a first-time reader, "Oranges" is still incredibly powerful if sometimes opaque. I love how she depicts the main character's relationship with her family and her highly religious community (which kind of feels like a bubble cut off from the outside world). I especially love the layers of bubbles: what is the norm? Where is the "normal" world and how do we find it? The main character's dynamic at home is not the dynamic in the church, nor is it the dynamic she finds when she eventually leaves home altogether.

I'm not sure how to review this book. It's about getting to know yourself and realizing that things you took for granted were actually irreconcilable elements to the outside world. The main character is gay and religious, but she doesn't see how her love is any different from straight love. It's only when other people call her unnatural that she becomes aware of the issue. If I had to sum the book up, it's about a young girl who comes of age, but it's less about her discovering who she is and more about her hanging on to who she's always been.

The part where she comes back at the end was the most heartbreaking, I think. It's as if nothing's changed, but everything has changed, and her mother (who threw her out) acts as if everything is fine. It should be comforting, but it's not: it feels like someone has papered over the parts they don't like, and the main character can feel the discomfort everywhere. It's both conditional and unconditional love. The main character is home, but she will never be home.

Recommended to anyone who likes to read stories about insular families with a slightly dysfunctional bent (although I have to assume every family is dysfunctional in its own way), stories about growing up, and stories about coming out. This is the third book of Winterson's that has moved me and I absolutely intend to read more of her work.

Slight trigger warning for homophobia, which isn't much of a spoiler, and also the following, which is a spoiler and fairly distressing, so be warned before reading:

I'm pretty sure that when the main character is first outed and goes to stay at a friend's house, that friend sexually assaults her. But it's couched in the main character saying she and the friend make love and she hates it the whole time, and the "friend" is a grown-ass woman while the main character is a teen in major emotional distress, so... it felt non-consensual or borderline iffy to me. But like I said, it's not very clear. Take from it what you will.

Content Warnings

More...