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elffrommars's review
emotional
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
jazzyjan94's review
3.0
I liked this one a lot better than the first book. I might just have to read the next book...we shall see.
danata's review
I loved Witch Baby (and its whole series) in the 1990s. The underlying message of the book — that we have to make room for pain and for uncomfortable truths, and that people who are honest about that stuff often feel alone — still holds super strong, as do the meditations on immigration and homophobia and the weird things we do to ourselves to avoid pain. Like in the other books, the language is lyrical and fairytale-ish, and the city of Los Angeles is vivid as a character.
I’m an adult now though and learned the lessons in the book so well that the book feels obvious.
Also, as other reviewers have mentioned, there’s a large quantity of questionable racial/ethnic stuff (the repeatedly described as chocolate looking skin of the black characters, the headdresses and pow wow comments) and an aesthetic of, like, constantly mentioning “Guatemalan fabric,” someone looking like a “Gypsy” dancer, or wanting to be an African drummer, or putting a puppy into a papoose. I think in the 1990s this large collection of ethnic mentions was a kind of shorthand for openness or inclusion, but now it feels a little, I don’t know, United Colors of Benetton?
I would love to read a grown up version of this book. What would Witch Baby be doing in the 2020s?
I’m an adult now though and learned the lessons in the book so well that the book feels obvious.
Also, as other reviewers have mentioned, there’s a large quantity of questionable racial/ethnic stuff (the repeatedly described as chocolate looking skin of the black characters, the headdresses and pow wow comments) and an aesthetic of, like, constantly mentioning “Guatemalan fabric,” someone looking like a “Gypsy” dancer, or wanting to be an African drummer, or putting a puppy into a papoose. I think in the 1990s this large collection of ethnic mentions was a kind of shorthand for openness or inclusion, but now it feels a little, I don’t know, United Colors of Benetton?
I would love to read a grown up version of this book. What would Witch Baby be doing in the 2020s?
calistareads's review
3.0
I loved the first Weetzie Bat book. It was so stylish and this California surfer greaser vibe. It was one of the first books in the early 90s with gay characters for a young adult audience. Now that is so normal that it isn't much of a big deal, but respect for the groundbreaker.
This story follows Witch Baby, the daughter that was left on Weetzie and My Secret Agent Lover-Man's doorstep. They live in a house with several couples and Dirk and Duck are a gay couple. It's has a commune vibe. All the adults help to take care of Witch Baby, but she doesn't feel like she belongs and she stows away in the jeep of Dirk and Duck when they are on a weekend to Duck's parent's home and they don't know he's gay. Then she runs away looking for her mom. We find out Witch Baby is actually My Secret Agent Lover Man's daughter with another mother.
Witch Baby is experiencing alienation here and she is a drummer and a photographer and we don't know exactly how old she is here.
I didn't connect with this story nearly as much as the first one. It wasn't horrible, but I don't really remember a lot either. The story is really a Novella at about 80 pages. I thought Dirk and Duck could have had an interesting storyline if the story was focused there, but it wasn't. I think it's having the book be from a child's perspective. That's why it didn't work. That's it. That's the problem with this book. It really hobbled the story.
I do plan on going ahead with this series at some point. The next book is longer.
This story follows Witch Baby, the daughter that was left on Weetzie and My Secret Agent Lover-Man's doorstep. They live in a house with several couples and Dirk and Duck are a gay couple. It's has a commune vibe. All the adults help to take care of Witch Baby, but she doesn't feel like she belongs and she stows away in the jeep of Dirk and Duck when they are on a weekend to Duck's parent's home and they don't know he's gay. Then she runs away looking for her mom. We find out Witch Baby is actually My Secret Agent Lover Man's daughter with another mother.
Witch Baby is experiencing alienation here and she is a drummer and a photographer and we don't know exactly how old she is here.
I didn't connect with this story nearly as much as the first one. It wasn't horrible, but I don't really remember a lot either. The story is really a Novella at about 80 pages. I thought Dirk and Duck could have had an interesting storyline if the story was focused there, but it wasn't. I think it's having the book be from a child's perspective. That's why it didn't work. That's it. That's the problem with this book. It really hobbled the story.
I do plan on going ahead with this series at some point. The next book is longer.
charlottesometimes's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
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