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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
I've been in a reading slump for months but breezed through this lovely little story in an afternoon. The writing was fantastic.
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
medium-paced
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Set in 1940 San Francisco, this queer fantasy novella shows a group of women living and loving life, even in a time when it wasn't wholly acceptable. There's a whiff of magical realism tossed in. We definitely see the conflict between what's expected and accepted versus the lives these women want to live on their own. I might have enjoyed following some of the other girls' adventures. (Klages has featured them in other short stories so I might dig them up later.) The story sucks you in until the very end.
A wonderful love story and a nice evocation of 1940s San Fransisco, a place of real magic with its steep streets, delicious restaurants, the chaos of Chinatown, and just off the coast: Treasure Island, home of the '39 World Fair. A troubled place also, where the immigrant and queer communities are under constant threat and the only small way they can express themselves is under the voyeuristic gaze of uncouth tourists.
I wish the fantastical element was left maybe a bit more ambiguous but otherwise this was a great novella.
I wish the fantastical element was left maybe a bit more ambiguous but otherwise this was a great novella.
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
part of the book’s beauty is its cover. It is a gorgeous picture of a couple dancing in the moonlight. I think it is part of the reason I bought the book. But a cover is only a cover, it is what is inside the covers that is important. And in this case the insides more than lived up to the cover.
Passing Strange was a strange read for me. I wasn’t really sure it was for me at first. It had lovely writing and interesting characters but at first I kept wondering what it was all about. And then something happened and it suddenly seemed to shift up a gear and took off.
It is certainly a book that would inspire me to read more by the author.
Passing Strange was a strange read for me. I wasn’t really sure it was for me at first. It had lovely writing and interesting characters but at first I kept wondering what it was all about. And then something happened and it suddenly seemed to shift up a gear and took off.
It is certainly a book that would inspire me to read more by the author.
A fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable love story. My only complaint is that it wasn't long enough.