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irismessenger_'s review
4.0
A modern day bourgeois comedy of manners, that follows three couples of brooklyn-dykes on a winter holiday on Long Island. Sasha, our main character, is femme, high-strung, and 'straight for butches.' Her disposition lacks any crumb of an earnest heart, and like most of the characters in this book, I found her kind of insufferable. Her lesbian boyfriend, who is on T and uses he/him and she/her pronouns interchangeably, is at the whims of Sasha's projections, that range from strict gender roles, to non-consensual-roleplay during sex.
While the characters gave me less than something to like, I did find the Contemporary Queer Tableau a fascinating display of the upper echelon of dyke society. This book will be hit or miss for most people, and maybe even a little incomprehensible to the cis/hets. I guess my most sympathetic reading of Dykette is that dyke archetypes lack fun in most of the queer lit I've read, and this book was queer melodrama at its best. Maybe give it a try?! I don't know.
While the characters gave me less than something to like, I did find the Contemporary Queer Tableau a fascinating display of the upper echelon of dyke society. This book will be hit or miss for most people, and maybe even a little incomprehensible to the cis/hets. I guess my most sympathetic reading of Dykette is that dyke archetypes lack fun in most of the queer lit I've read, and this book was queer melodrama at its best. Maybe give it a try?! I don't know.
kepler's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
itstheesilvie's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Fortunately or unfortunately this book made me reflect on myself and previous relationships I had with some of the women in my life. It was definitely a book that every character was so relatable yet unhinged and fucked up. It was incredibly raw writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Gore, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship
weirdefruit's review
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
athomewithholm's review
dark
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
kelkelkelkelly's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’m rating this book right in the middle because I’m not sure what to make of it. I believe it’s satire but even then I’m not sure it’s even particularly good satire. But it’s definitely unique and I will be thinking about it for a long time.
The story is like if White Lotus read a bunch of queer theory, spent 50+ hours on lesbian TikTok engaging in discourse, then declared it could be the voice of a generation. It’s hyper-niche - I think the only people who could get through it are upper middle class queers in major metropolitan areas of North America. The references are so specific and trend driven that it already feels dated to read, and will probably be illegible in ten years.
The POV character Sasha is deeply unlikable, self-obsessed, manipulative, performative, controlling, and vain. The other characters are all thinly drawn, and it’s hard to tell if that’s to underscore Sasha’s self-obsession or bad writing. Lou, the only character of colour, is a particularly egregious example of this, seeming to be mostly ignored in the story as though the author couldn’t decide what to do with them, or otherwise demonstrating by omission that Sasha doesn’t care about anything she can’t fuck, control, or hate.
The novel is an uncomfortably frank look at how power works in queer social dynamics, albeit a very narrow sampling of the highly wealthy, mostly cis, and butch/femme conforming. It depicts the ways femme identity can be weaponized to conceal manipulation and controlling behaviour, brushed off as games and “high femme camp antics”, and insisting that if you don’t get you simply must not be smart enough. The book misapplies therapy speak and queer theory citations constantly, blurring the line between critique and asinine nonsense.
In all this, it’s impossible to tell if this was the author’s intent or if she’s just done a sloppy job at writing a complicated character. Either way, it gets points for originality and entertainment value.
The story is like if White Lotus read a bunch of queer theory, spent 50+ hours on lesbian TikTok engaging in discourse, then declared it could be the voice of a generation. It’s hyper-niche - I think the only people who could get through it are upper middle class queers in major metropolitan areas of North America. The references are so specific and trend driven that it already feels dated to read, and will probably be illegible in ten years.
The POV character Sasha is deeply unlikable, self-obsessed, manipulative, performative, controlling, and vain. The other characters are all thinly drawn, and it’s hard to tell if that’s to underscore Sasha’s self-obsession or bad writing. Lou, the only character of colour, is a particularly egregious example of this, seeming to be mostly ignored in the story as though the author couldn’t decide what to do with them, or otherwise demonstrating by omission that Sasha doesn’t care about anything she can’t fuck, control, or hate.
The novel is an uncomfortably frank look at how power works in queer social dynamics, albeit a very narrow sampling of the highly wealthy, mostly cis, and butch/femme conforming. It depicts the ways femme identity can be weaponized to conceal manipulation and controlling behaviour, brushed off as games and “high femme camp antics”, and insisting that if you don’t get you simply must not be smart enough. The book misapplies therapy speak and queer theory citations constantly, blurring the line between critique and asinine nonsense.
In all this, it’s impossible to tell if this was the author’s intent or if she’s just done a sloppy job at writing a complicated character. Either way, it gets points for originality and entertainment value.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Classism, Sexual content, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Excrement
Explicit kink contentsoph_mills's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
krispy_reads's review
2.0
i kept waiting for this book to have a more concrete plot but it never did. i’m all for character driven books but i didn’t like anyone in this book so i had no one to root for. i’m all for explorations of lesbian sexuality and gender roles. the characters felt mostly real and grounded, just not people i would want to be around. it was messy and silly and had some good introspection into the lesbian identity. lots of complex feelings over this book. but ultimately i didn’t have a good time reading this and i really wish i did.
micklesreads's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a trainwreck I couldn't look away from. Sasha is truly awful and this gave me major grad school flashbacks.