A review by sinmin667
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

challenging emotional tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I first read this book five years ago and absolutely inhaled it. I think I loved the themes about Pentecostal religion and sexuality and wanted more books like it. I just finished rereading it a second time and I honestly didn't like it nearly as much-- I found her writing style to be very inaccessible if you were not very familiar with conversational British slang. Personally I'm not a huge fan of fantasy writing, so for the half of the book that is her fantastical internal monologue, I was very bored. I could tell it was her trying to develop the character, but it was exhausting to parse through. I think this is because the second time, I came wanting the story about a young girl coming to terms with her sexuality-- which honestly doesn't get that many scenes, and not much resolution. It wasn't as center stage as I remembered it to be.
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