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A review by thatotherlisa
Stray City by Chelsey Johnson
2.0
There was so much I loved in this book. The 90s Portland setting. The scrappy found family created by a bunch of young, poor, artsy lesbians. The music. The writing (mostly).
But it has a few fatal flaws that knock it down to two stars.
For a book ostensibly about lesbians, this book is just way too invested in a heterosexual relationship. I was intrigued by the premise: young lesbian woman has a fling with a man and decides to keep the baby. From the blurbs, I was expecting the affair would be a minor part with the focus on what happens when a single lesbian has a baby. But no. It’s a full-blown, messy, dysfunctional relationship between immature, selfish adults. While examining a relationship between a straight man and lesbian woman COULD be fascinating, the author backs down from any sort of real reckoning with the role of their sexual orientations.
Then there’s the writing. The first two-thirds are first person narrative from Andrea’s POV. I usually struggle with that, especially with somewhat unlivable characters, but I was in! Then, it switches for a minute to first-person from Ryan’s perspective because...reasons? It certainly wasn’t to add any insight into that character. Then all the sudden, we’re ten years later, third person omniscient. The shifts are jarring, annoying, and felt vaguely lazy.
Also, overly-precocious hipster children are 1000% not my jam.
But it has a few fatal flaws that knock it down to two stars.
For a book ostensibly about lesbians, this book is just way too invested in a heterosexual relationship. I was intrigued by the premise: young lesbian woman has a fling with a man and decides to keep the baby. From the blurbs, I was expecting the affair would be a minor part with the focus on what happens when a single lesbian has a baby. But no. It’s a full-blown, messy, dysfunctional relationship between immature, selfish adults. While examining a relationship between a straight man and lesbian woman COULD be fascinating, the author backs down from any sort of real reckoning with the role of their sexual orientations.
Then there’s the writing. The first two-thirds are first person narrative from Andrea’s POV. I usually struggle with that, especially with somewhat unlivable characters, but I was in! Then, it switches for a minute to first-person from Ryan’s perspective because...reasons? It certainly wasn’t to add any insight into that character. Then all the sudden, we’re ten years later, third person omniscient. The shifts are jarring, annoying, and felt vaguely lazy.
Also, overly-precocious hipster children are 1000% not my jam.