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A review by togidemi
Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy
3.0
GOD AFTER FIVE MONTHS I FINALLY FINISHED IT
Listen... this book and I should've been great together. A queer girl with dyed hair who has financial problems, got her heart broken from a long-distance relationship, and feels trapped under all her responsibilities? There are few other fictional characters I could relate MORE to. And, trust me, I was pleasantly surprised how well this story navigated sexuality and queer friends - it was very realistic, especially the Doubt About The Labels, and I don't know how good the representation was for y'all but I can tell you a lot of the conversations between Ramona, Ruth, and Saul felt like they were copypasted from my interactions with my own gay-ass friends, and the portrayed casual homophobia taken from my own damn family dinner table. Also, Ruth and Ramona? SO cute. The Leroux family's living situation also felt extraordinsmarily real to me - the constant worrying to make the bills, the shabby tiny home, the grueling work.
But... well. There's a reason it took me so long to finish the novel, and it's that it just didn't click with me. IT SHOULD'VE. IT REALLY SHOULD'VE, BELIEVE ME, I AM STILL MAD I'M SO "MEH" ABOUT THIS BOOK WHEN ITS MADE UP OF SO MANY THINGS I LOVE. But what can I do? The beginning particularly drags and, while I do love Ramona's growth by the end - mostly because I relate pretty deeply to her problems - it doesn't feel... right. Like everyone else got a quick, neat little conclusion (if they even had one) just because the end of the novel was approaching.
Overall it's a nice read, but honestly it was just that. Just nice. If tales about queer girls navigating life with her small-town friends sounds like it's up your alley, you might have a blast! It's up mine, even though it didn't do much more than occupy a combined ten hours (over five months, oh no) of my time and make me yell "TRUE. SAME." at bits of dialogue between Ramona, Saul, and Ruth.
Listen... this book and I should've been great together. A queer girl with dyed hair who has financial problems, got her heart broken from a long-distance relationship, and feels trapped under all her responsibilities? There are few other fictional characters I could relate MORE to. And, trust me, I was pleasantly surprised how well this story navigated sexuality and queer friends - it was very realistic, especially the Doubt About The Labels, and I don't know how good the representation was for y'all but I can tell you a lot of the conversations between Ramona, Ruth, and Saul felt like they were copypasted from my interactions with my own gay-ass friends, and the portrayed casual homophobia taken from my own damn family dinner table. Also, Ruth and Ramona? SO cute. The Leroux family's living situation also felt extraordinsmarily real to me - the constant worrying to make the bills, the shabby tiny home, the grueling work.
But... well. There's a reason it took me so long to finish the novel, and it's that it just didn't click with me. IT SHOULD'VE. IT REALLY SHOULD'VE, BELIEVE ME, I AM STILL MAD I'M SO "MEH" ABOUT THIS BOOK WHEN ITS MADE UP OF SO MANY THINGS I LOVE. But what can I do? The beginning particularly drags and, while I do love Ramona's growth by the end - mostly because I relate pretty deeply to her problems - it doesn't feel... right. Like everyone else got a quick, neat little conclusion (if they even had one) just because the end of the novel was approaching.
Overall it's a nice read, but honestly it was just that. Just nice. If tales about queer girls navigating life with her small-town friends sounds like it's up your alley, you might have a blast! It's up mine, even though it didn't do much more than occupy a combined ten hours (over five months, oh no) of my time and make me yell "TRUE. SAME." at bits of dialogue between Ramona, Saul, and Ruth.