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A review by mllejoyeuxnoel
Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner
5.0
NOTE: I received an ARC from a friend who simply thought I might enjoy Zentner’s latest work.
You remember that moment when some Neanderthal journalist asked George R.R. Martin how he managed to write women so well, and Martin deadpan replied, “You know, I’ve always considered women to be people,” and we all collectively basked in the smug glory of that mic drop for a hot sec?
Yeah, I remember it, too. And as I started reading this book, I couldn’t stop thinking about Martin’s one-liner: women are people, and people are women. Zentner doesn’t overthink writing from the perspective from two teenage girls... and that’s why he nails it so perfectly. Josie and Delia are a couple of beautiful, fully-formed, three-dimensional characters; they are brave and yet terrified, snarky yet vulnerable, brilliant yet flawed. They are perfect on the page. And then... oh, wow. And then Zentner tops that Martin mic-drop by acknowledging the particular challenges women - specifically young women - face, and instead of constantly having these girls “fight the good fight,” he often has them react in the same ways most of us do when faced with sexism and harassment. They’re simultaneously both as courageous and exhausted as most of the women I know.
It’s so FUCKING refreshing when an author gets this right. Thank you, Jeff.
As one does, I found myself crying on public transportation as I finished this book. All things end, right? We all know this. Anything worth having will eventually be lost. It’s not an easy concept to stare in the face, unless someone like Zentner is holding your hand while you confront that truth.
I laughed a lot more than I cried while reading RDMM. Did you know that holding in your farts can damage your liver? Or that knights dabbled in honor? This was a totally uplifting read that will make you want to go out and create A Thing with your best friend just because you know that you’ll be laughing through ninety percent of the journey.
I loved this book. I’m so glad it was one of my first reads of 2019. Great way to kick off the year.
You remember that moment when some Neanderthal journalist asked George R.R. Martin how he managed to write women so well, and Martin deadpan replied, “You know, I’ve always considered women to be people,” and we all collectively basked in the smug glory of that mic drop for a hot sec?
Yeah, I remember it, too. And as I started reading this book, I couldn’t stop thinking about Martin’s one-liner: women are people, and people are women. Zentner doesn’t overthink writing from the perspective from two teenage girls... and that’s why he nails it so perfectly. Josie and Delia are a couple of beautiful, fully-formed, three-dimensional characters; they are brave and yet terrified, snarky yet vulnerable, brilliant yet flawed. They are perfect on the page. And then... oh, wow. And then Zentner tops that Martin mic-drop by acknowledging the particular challenges women - specifically young women - face, and instead of constantly having these girls “fight the good fight,” he often has them react in the same ways most of us do when faced with sexism and harassment. They’re simultaneously both as courageous and exhausted as most of the women I know.
It’s so FUCKING refreshing when an author gets this right. Thank you, Jeff.
As one does, I found myself crying on public transportation as I finished this book. All things end, right? We all know this. Anything worth having will eventually be lost. It’s not an easy concept to stare in the face, unless someone like Zentner is holding your hand while you confront that truth.
I laughed a lot more than I cried while reading RDMM. Did you know that holding in your farts can damage your liver? Or that knights dabbled in honor? This was a totally uplifting read that will make you want to go out and create A Thing with your best friend just because you know that you’ll be laughing through ninety percent of the journey.
I loved this book. I’m so glad it was one of my first reads of 2019. Great way to kick off the year.