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banrions's review
dnf at about 19%.
I just didn’t quite connect with the writing style of this, I think. The constant pov switching mid sentence and paragraph was jarring, and it made it hard to connect to the characters. I probably could have pushed through, because I was interested in seeing how this played out, and seeing an era of queer history I don’t know much about, but I just can’t seem to get into it and there are other books I want to read. Might come back to it someday when Im in a different mood.
I just didn’t quite connect with the writing style of this, I think. The constant pov switching mid sentence and paragraph was jarring, and it made it hard to connect to the characters. I probably could have pushed through, because I was interested in seeing how this played out, and seeing an era of queer history I don’t know much about, but I just can’t seem to get into it and there are other books I want to read. Might come back to it someday when Im in a different mood.
shippychaos's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Absolutely incredible book.
ken_bookhermit's review
5.0
the easiest way for me to describe the experience of this book is to call it nostalgic, but in the way where the experience is not mine to be nostalgic about. the sheer difficulty of immersing myself in this book is all because it feels like am being a voyeur of jackie’s and regina’s intimacy. but isn’t that what all acts of reading amounts to?
it was particularly a struggle because i must drop the book like it’s hot whenever i encounter lines that make my heart clench like a fist. over what? over love. over
love between women. over love between lesbians. over love between butches and femmes. there is absolutely nothing like it.
this is the first book that choked me up to the point of tears. at least in recent memory. and why wouldn’t it? it made me acutely aware of my loneliness and lack of community. made me pine for a butch dyke mentor of my own. the loss in this book is a real loss that i will carry with me to the depths. damn it.
it was the flirtatious electricity that hooked me. the undeniable passion of love and desire between butches and femmes - flaws, infidelity, and all. and there’s nothing more beautiful than growing old with the woman you love, is there?
jackie’s stone butchiness is my favourite facet of her character. and i also love regina’s haughty self-righteousness. somehow, it made them perfect for each other.
i also appreciate the masterful way the author handled the ending (future me, you know what scene i mean. it’s when we cried like someone sucker punched us in the gut). its reliance on implication and shadow made it all the more impactful. amazing.
it was particularly a struggle because i must drop the book like it’s hot whenever i encounter lines that make my heart clench like a fist. over what? over love. over
love between women. over love between lesbians. over love between butches and femmes. there is absolutely nothing like it.
this is the first book that choked me up to the point of tears. at least in recent memory. and why wouldn’t it? it made me acutely aware of my loneliness and lack of community. made me pine for a butch dyke mentor of my own. the loss in this book is a real loss that i will carry with me to the depths. damn it.
it was the flirtatious electricity that hooked me. the undeniable passion of love and desire between butches and femmes - flaws, infidelity, and all. and there’s nothing more beautiful than growing old with the woman you love, is there?
jackie’s stone butchiness is my favourite facet of her character. and i also love regina’s haughty self-righteousness. somehow, it made them perfect for each other.
i also appreciate the masterful way the author handled the ending (future me, you know what scene i mean. it’s when we cried like someone sucker punched us in the gut). its reliance on implication and shadow made it all the more impactful. amazing.
zefrien's review
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sasspotatoes's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
3.5
raychelbennet's review
5.0
An absolutely beautiful and heartrending story about a lifetime of queer love and experiences. Our story opens on Saturday, February 18, 2017 as ninety-year-old Jackie and eighty-nine-year-old Regina wake up together. Throughout the day as the two women go about their lives, their sixty year love story gradually unfolds. We are told of their first impressions, biggest fights, worst heartaches, sorrows, and overwhelming joy throughout their years.
The small vignettes are told in stories from one to the other, beginning in October 1955 and span the next six decades. In the midst of their story is also the struggle of being gay in every single era of American life. We are told accounts of people being beaten and imprisoned for dancing with members of the same sex or wearing the wrong gendered clothing, forced poverty because the heteropatriarchy can't imagine giving a "man's" job to a woman, Jackie and Regina having to move every couple of months when their neighbors get suspicious, and their friend Bo desperately wanting to pass as a man and be called their partner's husband. The oppression and prejudices are never made more palatable, but Sally Bellerose also inundates this novel with some of the most beautiful aspects of queerness. There's found family, self-acceptance, and discussions on intersectionality. Despite the very real and difficult conflicts they went through, Jackie and Regina ultimately developed a love story that no one believed was possible for two women--not even them.
I can't help but draw comparisons between this and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, and I mean that with the highest regard. I laughed over this book and I also cried very hard. This is one that I can see joining the LGBTQ+ lit canon and is joining my favorite of all time shelf. A lifetime of queer love is the most beautiful to read and Sally Bellerose did it with authenticity and joy.
The small vignettes are told in stories from one to the other, beginning in October 1955 and span the next six decades. In the midst of their story is also the struggle of being gay in every single era of American life. We are told accounts of people being beaten and imprisoned for dancing with members of the same sex or wearing the wrong gendered clothing, forced poverty because the heteropatriarchy can't imagine giving a "man's" job to a woman, Jackie and Regina having to move every couple of months when their neighbors get suspicious, and their friend Bo desperately wanting to pass as a man and be called their partner's husband. The oppression and prejudices are never made more palatable, but Sally Bellerose also inundates this novel with some of the most beautiful aspects of queerness. There's found family, self-acceptance, and discussions on intersectionality. Despite the very real and difficult conflicts they went through, Jackie and Regina ultimately developed a love story that no one believed was possible for two women--not even them.
I can't help but draw comparisons between this and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, and I mean that with the highest regard. I laughed over this book and I also cried very hard. This is one that I can see joining the LGBTQ+ lit canon and is joining my favorite of all time shelf. A lifetime of queer love is the most beautiful to read and Sally Bellerose did it with authenticity and joy.
astiefvater's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
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