Reviews

The Inverts by Crystal Jeans

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synthetic_and_saturnine's review against another edition

2.0

i initially had pretty high expectations for this book but it was so so disappointing :/ hardly any of the characters were tolerable n it was almost excruciating to read at times, especially towards the end

moominbitch's review against another edition

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3.0

1920s lavender marriage? sign me up!

weird murder-mystery is v anticlimactic but the 20s vibes are so slay

booksandwolves's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

fhh's review

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lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

feanli's review against another edition

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funny mysterious

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

3.5

pansypipedream's review

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

elatedbooks's review against another edition

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3.25

“‘I tell you everything.’
‘Nobody tells anybody everything.’
‘Oh, shut up. I tell you as much as I’ll ever tell anyone.’”

The beginning of this seemed to be the set up to a completely different book as it indicates towards some big mystery in which the book would switch between past & present day narratives in order to solve. Furthermore I was also expecting to hear more from their children. Instead the plot completely drops all of these things until right at the end when I guess the mystery is solved but by that point I’d forgotten it was an issue so it lacked any sense of resolution that something introduced right at the beginning should have had.

The actual plot of the book is quite meandering as it spans a whole lifetime basically & whilst it kept decent momentum it does struggle a bit with lack of direction because the book’s purpose is unclear - queer coming of age stories, a gatsby-esque party lifestyle, a weird war bit at the end? I get that they’re connected by the characters interpersonal relationships & queer experiences but the parts felt too separate from each other.

ALSO !! Brief interlude whilst i’ve been perusing some other reviews but the wlw in this book is just shitty! Bart gets complex yes but tender relationships & Bettina gets…scraps. It briefly mentions the difference between queer hookups at the time (with gay men being able to go to forests etc) but I feel this could have been explored much more explicitly or Bettina could have been given at least a little SOMETHING.