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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Definitely the most intense book of the series so far, I really enjoyed seeing this side of Jane.
Very interesting conclusion to some of Jane’s emotional/relationship turmoil. Also quite interesting reading about AIDS and closeted gay men in 2020 when the book was original written/published in 1999.
Finally finished the three book arc of Julia.
I did suspect from the setup. A doctor in the 90's who sees primarily men in an LGBTQIA+ series. It was always going to be what it was.
And despite the triggering persistence of:
"When he was growing up, everyone told him he was sick and sinful just for being who he was. I wish to God he could have grown up twenty years later. He might have had a chance at a more normal life."
which remains true even twenty-three years (or technically four decades) after the book was published, the story feels aged. Perhaps it's the tape recorder and the answer phones. It's dated in that sense.
Yet it's still relevant.
I was in churches where they spread this kind of hate; they spread the message that it was less of a mortal sin to kill yourself than be gay. And that takes a lot of unpacking, so it's still a little raw. That this book is still so relevant in the hatred and social judgement present in society is disappointing.
They tell us it gets better, but it doesn't. The closet is just another coffin.
I did go into this knowing the series would hit these chords consistently, but it's not so much the books as the fact that being gay still ruins careers; that people still have to hide who they are to 'save face'.
The book itself? Very well done. Jane is completely unhinged and I love all her toxic relationship choices. She's on a downward spiral and it's excellent. She's attacked by the same person 4 times. She's reliant entirely on pain medication and alcohol and a cane. She goes into an abandoned building where someone was murdered twice. She meets a homeless man down by a bridge at night. She repeatedly gives her shady ladies so many extra chances.
It's a miserable book, and it's completely endearing in its misery. So many books in this genre overpower the protagonist, don't give them any flaws. But Jane Lawless is human and flawed and very, very well done.
18 books to go.
I did suspect from the setup. A doctor in the 90's who sees primarily men in an LGBTQIA+ series. It was always going to be what it was.
And despite the triggering persistence of:
"When he was growing up, everyone told him he was sick and sinful just for being who he was. I wish to God he could have grown up twenty years later. He might have had a chance at a more normal life."
which remains true even twenty-three years (or technically four decades) after the book was published, the story feels aged. Perhaps it's the tape recorder and the answer phones. It's dated in that sense.
Yet it's still relevant.
I was in churches where they spread this kind of hate; they spread the message that it was less of a mortal sin to kill yourself than be gay. And that takes a lot of unpacking, so it's still a little raw. That this book is still so relevant in the hatred and social judgement present in society is disappointing.
They tell us it gets better, but it doesn't. The closet is just another coffin.
I did go into this knowing the series would hit these chords consistently, but it's not so much the books as the fact that being gay still ruins careers; that people still have to hide who they are to 'save face'.
The book itself? Very well done. Jane is completely unhinged and I love all her toxic relationship choices. She's on a downward spiral and it's excellent. She's attacked by the same person 4 times. She's reliant entirely on pain medication and alcohol and a cane. She goes into an abandoned building where someone was murdered twice. She meets a homeless man down by a bridge at night. She repeatedly gives her shady ladies so many extra chances.
It's a miserable book, and it's completely endearing in its misery. So many books in this genre overpower the protagonist, don't give them any flaws. But Jane Lawless is human and flawed and very, very well done.
18 books to go.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Hunting The Witch (A Jane Lawless Mystery) by Ellen Hart (2000)