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isbeingwatched's review against another edition
slow-paced
5.0
i loved this. i'm queer and grew up in wellsboro, so lots of my love for this book comes from the feeling of familiarity and how easily i can relate. i wish i could share that feeling with everyone who reads this, because it really does change the experience.
i've seen lots of people criticize this novel by saying that it's too pregnancy-centered rather than lesbian-centered, and i can understand where this is coming from but i really have to disagree. saying that her sexuality was not focused on enough in favor of her pregnancy completely ignores the entire book and its purpose. not only does louise faces many hardships during every single stage of her pregnancy due to her sexuality, but one of the main points of the novel is that lesbians are normal people. this is a story about a lesbian, yes, but lesbians have careers, relationships, family, goals, etc, and her sexuality seeps into every aspect of her life, for better or worse. this is a perfect portrayal of how being gay in real life is, even 20 years later.
this is one of the main reasons why i fell in love with this novel, and considering how many times louise states it outright in the book, it really makes me wonder how a significant amount of readers didn't pick up on it. maybe it's not the highly romanticized small-town sexuality journey that people wanted or were expecting, but honestly i think this book serves a real and even better purpose.
i've seen lots of people criticize this novel by saying that it's too pregnancy-centered rather than lesbian-centered, and i can understand where this is coming from but i really have to disagree. saying that her sexuality was not focused on enough in favor of her pregnancy completely ignores the entire book and its purpose. not only does louise faces many hardships during every single stage of her pregnancy due to her sexuality, but one of the main points of the novel is that lesbians are normal people. this is a story about a lesbian, yes, but lesbians have careers, relationships, family, goals, etc, and her sexuality seeps into every aspect of her life, for better or worse. this is a perfect portrayal of how being gay in real life is, even 20 years later.
this is one of the main reasons why i fell in love with this novel, and considering how many times louise states it outright in the book, it really makes me wonder how a significant amount of readers didn't pick up on it. maybe it's not the highly romanticized small-town sexuality journey that people wanted or were expecting, but honestly i think this book serves a real and even better purpose.
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