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kentanapages's reviews
555 reviews
Dykette by Jenny Fran Davis
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This felt like a literary experience of a Zillenial version of the Real L World reality show, but featuring some of the OG elder lesbians. Nothing really happens, but there's a lot of drama, and at least one unhinged lesbian femme.
Dykette reads largely as a character study, an attempt at a satirical commentary on society, and an exploration of queer dynamics-- but specifically femme/butch dynamics for a specific demographic (Young Millenial/Gen Z, upper middle class to upper class, white).
There was a lot to like here, and I was able to think of individuals who may enjoy this more than I did.
I liked that the story doesn't cater to a straight reader; it's very much by queers for queers, and doesn't try to explain as it goes. Some of the references are probably quite inside-softball (hehe).
I appreciated the inclusion of lesbians characters that use both she/her and he/him pronouns, the lesbian boyfriend, and non-cis characters. One of my favorite parts was a discussion around the pros and cons of top surgery; I thought it captured a lot of the nuance and significance of these choices really well and with a great use of dialogue.
I liked how Dykette looked at the generational differences in femme/butch lesbian relationships, and also the way those are perceived by those of other generations.
I appreciated the honest look at performance in queer relationships, which may seem to have more defined boundaries and stricter rules and straight relationships.
I found the exploration of desire and kink and sex and consent interesting and fairly well done.
I also found the character view too limiting in a lot of ways; if you don't belong to this specific slice of queer culture, it may not resonate the way I think it's intended to. I'm a queer woman, and I chuckled at the recognition of some of these characters, and similarities to people I've met in real life; but overall this felt frivolous and performative and specific to certain individuals. I could not relate at all to the narrator, or empathize with her, or even sympathize with her in any way. I could recognize that there are many people who can relate to these behaviors, but I don't feel comfortable perpetuating what I consider to be psychologically unhealthy games and did not enjoy almost any of the main character's traits, thoughts, musings, opinions, or actions.
I also often like unreliable narrators, but this one was SO unreliable, and so dramatic, and applying this layer of judgment and her own neuroses to everyone else, that it just felt toxic and frankly annoying to me. Again here, I can see how this is appealing to some readers; I find almost every reality show intolerable for similar reasons to why this book was difficult for me, but I am aware that they have mass appeal and their target audiences don't include me.
There were some funny moments; there’s a heavy helping of social satire, and some of it works. A lot of it fell flat for me, however, and often felt like it was trying far too hard. I could see this resonating more with those in their early 20s instead of their mid-thirties (me), so perhaps that's it. There were places where the narration felt like it was trying to sound so smart and profound at every turn, and instead made me cringe a bit, imagining a young person who wants so very much to be grown up and deep and profound. Given the character study and subject matter, perhaps this was meta and part of the satire, but it just didn't work for me.
The constant navel-gazing was also exhausting for me; however, I'm aware that I'm typically less drawn to character studies and prefer a plot with some character growth, so this may appeal more to others who are here just to observe the characters. Basically nothing happens plot-wise, aside from some semi-disturbing sexual events towards the end. Those should come with content warnings, but were also some of the most interesting events of the book for me.
There is SO MUCH focus on fashion and brands and clothing and accessories, to an (in my very biased opinion) absurd degree. The narrator was making the point that this is part of the performance of the dykette, of this femme identify. I found it frivolous, but also that's because it's not my thing and the older I get the more I despise our consumer and beauty culture. Personally I find some of these types of performance immature and exhausting and limiting and damaging in real life. I don't expect everyone to share these opinions, but it bothered me that there was no real evaluation or reflection here; it almost glorified and defended some of the more toxic behaviors demonstrated, which were clearly causing pain to both members of a relationship and to those around them.
I know this was a character study on these characters, but there’s an implication that all of the dykettes, these Zillenial super-femmes, are (or should aspire to be) super insecure and emotionally volatile and deceiving and frivolous and unstable and selfish; this is simply not true. There’s even a line that I found borderline personally offensive about gay femmes who aren’t dramatic or glitzy or neurotic not actually being gay. I get that it’s meant as more satire and some profound commentary on performance being who you are, but it rubbed me the wrong way, and flippant statements like this can be harmful.
It felt like the author, or at least the narrator, was saying throughout, "well yes i'm high maintenance and I might be hurtful to those I love and no therapist would call this a healthy relationship, but I'm high drama and this is me and that's just how it is with dykettes!"
And I think we can do better than this.
content warning: torture/bdsm porn scene
Dykette reads largely as a character study, an attempt at a satirical commentary on society, and an exploration of queer dynamics-- but specifically femme/butch dynamics for a specific demographic (Young Millenial/Gen Z, upper middle class to upper class, white).
There was a lot to like here, and I was able to think of individuals who may enjoy this more than I did.
I liked that the story doesn't cater to a straight reader; it's very much by queers for queers, and doesn't try to explain as it goes. Some of the references are probably quite inside-softball (hehe).
I appreciated the inclusion of lesbians characters that use both she/her and he/him pronouns, the lesbian boyfriend, and non-cis characters. One of my favorite parts was a discussion around the pros and cons of top surgery; I thought it captured a lot of the nuance and significance of these choices really well and with a great use of dialogue.
I liked how Dykette looked at the generational differences in femme/butch lesbian relationships, and also the way those are perceived by those of other generations.
I appreciated the honest look at performance in queer relationships, which may seem to have more defined boundaries and stricter rules and straight relationships.
I found the exploration of desire and kink and sex and consent interesting and fairly well done.
I also found the character view too limiting in a lot of ways; if you don't belong to this specific slice of queer culture, it may not resonate the way I think it's intended to. I'm a queer woman, and I chuckled at the recognition of some of these characters, and similarities to people I've met in real life; but overall this felt frivolous and performative and specific to certain individuals. I could not relate at all to the narrator, or empathize with her, or even sympathize with her in any way. I could recognize that there are many people who can relate to these behaviors, but I don't feel comfortable perpetuating what I consider to be psychologically unhealthy games and did not enjoy almost any of the main character's traits, thoughts, musings, opinions, or actions.
I also often like unreliable narrators, but this one was SO unreliable, and so dramatic, and applying this layer of judgment and her own neuroses to everyone else, that it just felt toxic and frankly annoying to me. Again here, I can see how this is appealing to some readers; I find almost every reality show intolerable for similar reasons to why this book was difficult for me, but I am aware that they have mass appeal and their target audiences don't include me.
There were some funny moments; there’s a heavy helping of social satire, and some of it works. A lot of it fell flat for me, however, and often felt like it was trying far too hard. I could see this resonating more with those in their early 20s instead of their mid-thirties (me), so perhaps that's it. There were places where the narration felt like it was trying to sound so smart and profound at every turn, and instead made me cringe a bit, imagining a young person who wants so very much to be grown up and deep and profound. Given the character study and subject matter, perhaps this was meta and part of the satire, but it just didn't work for me.
The constant navel-gazing was also exhausting for me; however, I'm aware that I'm typically less drawn to character studies and prefer a plot with some character growth, so this may appeal more to others who are here just to observe the characters. Basically nothing happens plot-wise, aside from some semi-disturbing sexual events towards the end. Those should come with content warnings, but were also some of the most interesting events of the book for me.
There is SO MUCH focus on fashion and brands and clothing and accessories, to an (in my very biased opinion) absurd degree. The narrator was making the point that this is part of the performance of the dykette, of this femme identify. I found it frivolous, but also that's because it's not my thing and the older I get the more I despise our consumer and beauty culture. Personally I find some of these types of performance immature and exhausting and limiting and damaging in real life. I don't expect everyone to share these opinions, but it bothered me that there was no real evaluation or reflection here; it almost glorified and defended some of the more toxic behaviors demonstrated, which were clearly causing pain to both members of a relationship and to those around them.
I know this was a character study on these characters, but there’s an implication that all of the dykettes, these Zillenial super-femmes, are (or should aspire to be) super insecure and emotionally volatile and deceiving and frivolous and unstable and selfish; this is simply not true. There’s even a line that I found borderline personally offensive about gay femmes who aren’t dramatic or glitzy or neurotic not actually being gay. I get that it’s meant as more satire and some profound commentary on performance being who you are, but it rubbed me the wrong way, and flippant statements like this can be harmful.
It felt like the author, or at least the narrator, was saying throughout, "well yes i'm high maintenance and I might be hurtful to those I love and no therapist would call this a healthy relationship, but I'm high drama and this is me and that's just how it is with dykettes!"
And I think we can do better than this.
content warning: torture/bdsm porn scene
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture
Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Wow. That was unexpected.
Beautiful, absurd, horrific.
I was addicted one chapter in and I could not stop reading, and finished it the same day.
It was one of those books that had me captive from the first few pages, with beautiful writing and gripping characters and just a dusting of “something’s not right”, which grew and mingled with some dystopian futuristic beauty technologies into a throbbing horror story by the end.
Our main character is the child of musicians and Chinese immigrants who fled the Cultural Revolution, and she develops into a hauntingly talented piano player in her youth. We see parts of her adolescence at a Conservatory, but learn that in the current day she’s given up music and is scraping to get by. It seems like serendipity when she meets the public face of Holistik, a company famous for its cutting edge beauty procedures and technologies, and is offered a job (and mandatory use of many Holistik products, which start slowly changing her appearance and having odd side effects).
I loved so much about this book! I enjoyed the hint of sci-fi feel, the spotlight on consumerism, the thrumming sapphic energy between our MC and other women in the Holistik spiderweb, the role of music and art, the dark humor, the underlying commentary on society and identity and beauty standards rooted in whiteness and capitalism.
I’m actually not sure if this book is classified as horror; I find it hard to categorize.
If you enjoy a dystopian horror feel that starts off subtle but grows stronger and more absurd with every chapter and culminates in an ending I promise you did not see coming, this is for you. But if you don’t think you enjoy horror, this may still be for you! I don’t usually consider myself to be a huge fan of horror, but Natural Beauty had aspects, especially towards the end, that I certainly would call horrific, and I was certainly a fan.
Beautiful, absurd, horrific.
I was addicted one chapter in and I could not stop reading, and finished it the same day.
It was one of those books that had me captive from the first few pages, with beautiful writing and gripping characters and just a dusting of “something’s not right”, which grew and mingled with some dystopian futuristic beauty technologies into a throbbing horror story by the end.
Our main character is the child of musicians and Chinese immigrants who fled the Cultural Revolution, and she develops into a hauntingly talented piano player in her youth. We see parts of her adolescence at a Conservatory, but learn that in the current day she’s given up music and is scraping to get by. It seems like serendipity when she meets the public face of Holistik, a company famous for its cutting edge beauty procedures and technologies, and is offered a job (and mandatory use of many Holistik products, which start slowly changing her appearance and having odd side effects).
I loved so much about this book! I enjoyed the hint of sci-fi feel, the spotlight on consumerism, the thrumming sapphic energy between our MC and other women in the Holistik spiderweb, the role of music and art, the dark humor, the underlying commentary on society and identity and beauty standards rooted in whiteness and capitalism.
I’m actually not sure if this book is classified as horror; I find it hard to categorize.
If you enjoy a dystopian horror feel that starts off subtle but grows stronger and more absurd with every chapter and culminates in an ending I promise you did not see coming, this is for you. But if you don’t think you enjoy horror, this may still be for you! I don’t usually consider myself to be a huge fan of horror, but Natural Beauty had aspects, especially towards the end, that I certainly would call horrific, and I was certainly a fan.
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0