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A review by buildingtaste
Passing Strange by Ellen Klages
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I wish this book was either shorter or longer, if that makes sense. The back jacket makes a point of there being six different women involved, and this is technically true, but the majority of the story is devoted to just two of them and their relationship. The magic is just enough, neither showily out of place nor so subtle it doesn't warrant its inclusion. Reading the penultimate chapter and looking back at the cover made me tear up. I hope Haskel and Emily had a beautiful life.
Despite the long list of content warnings this book is on the whole a reaffirming read, it just doesn't gloss over the historic conditions for lesbians and Asian americans in the 1940s.
Despite the long list of content warnings this book is on the whole a reaffirming read, it just doesn't gloss over the historic conditions for lesbians and Asian americans in the 1940s.
Moderate: Sexual content, Colonisation, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny