A review by kstookley
Stray City by Chelsey Johnson

3.0

My friend told me to give a real review for this one, so here it goes! I had heard other reviewers describe this book as an homage to a city, to a group of friends, to a particular lifestyle that is still somehow relatable to all queer folks with a queer friend group. And... That's not really what I got. To be sure, the friends and place were still there, but they felt more like flavor than focus. The true focus of this novel was how one relationship was doomed in an extremely particular way-- yes, because of the genders of the partners, but more resolutely the two sharing similarities that lead to incompatibility (as well as some pretty stark differences). So, this book was fine, fun. But I would recommend others much more highly if you want an examination of queer place and friends (Paul Takes Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor immediately comes to mind).

One good quote (there were many more good ones but I didn't mark them and don't feel like hunting much):
"For the first time I understood why queer people changed their names... The name they gave you belongs to someone else, their invention of you; if you turn out not to be that person, you name yourself."