A review by readingcat1832
Stir-Fry by Emma Donoghue

3.75

 this was an interesting one because it reads so much like a debut, and there's some self consciousness in donoghue's writing, some element of trying to be experimental that really shows. but it's not in a bad way? it was in fact her very first book and it's such an interesting look into her early writing, knowing what a prolific writer she'd become in another 10-ish years.

stir-fry was written in 1994 and sometimes that shows in its attitudes; some aspects of its queerness and especially its depiction of bisexuality feel dated, but it's also such a fantastic bit of early lesbian fiction! i understand that for its time at least, a lesbian book that wasn't bogged down with tragedy was somewhat revolutionary. that may no longer be the case today, but this still made for a really nice look into older queer fiction and its characters and story still hold up. i'm starting to get tired of classic "coming of age" stories and even though stir-fry doesn't necessarily break the mould in that department, it probably did to an extent in the early 90s, but more importantly, it just does its job really well. i liked seeing maria's journey to self-discovery and her relationships with ruth and jael. probably not donoghue's intention, but to me maria also read as so very ace? seeing her "choosing" her (male) crushes for the sake of having them felt so very relatable. 

(also 10000 points to the bit of dialogue

("maybe he's bisexual" // "he could be a necrophiliac for all i care")

. what a sentence to read).