Great ideas, very heavy-handed execution. Also, important emotional things kept happening between various characters and I didn't even pick up on any Great ideas, very heavy-handed execution. Also, important emotional things kept happening between various characters and I didn't even pick up on any of it until the main character reflected on it later. This was not a problem I had with Marks' later books. ...more
So awesome it makes me want to go back and give only 4 stars to Fire Logic just because this one is that much better. So awesome it makes me want to go back and give only 4 stars to Fire Logic just because this one is that much better. ...more
The weakest part was the plagiarism accusations. I'm just not sold on that. The rest was an eye-opening look at the theater scene and how it handled (The weakest part was the plagiarism accusations. I'm just not sold on that. The rest was an eye-opening look at the theater scene and how it handled (i.e. mishandled) gay issues and AIDS around the time of Rent. ...more
I couldn't finish it... I just didn't really care about the characters enough. But I can see why other people like it so much. I couldn't finish it... I just didn't really care about the characters enough. But I can see why other people like it so much. ...more
Yes!! This was so good! I love when sf/fantasy truly breaks the mold and this book does it. I've never ever before read a fantasy novel in which the aYes!! This was so good! I love when sf/fantasy truly breaks the mold and this book does it. I've never ever before read a fantasy novel in which the author posits a world with NO gender issues at all. None! Every character's job or main role in life is based on their personality and motivations, not their gender. It's not just a flip-flop either. There are army commanders of both genders, farmers of both genders, raising-kids-focused people of both genders, family structures of all kinds, queer and straight relationships are given equal importance, etc. There's plenty of conflict and oppression between cultures, but none on gender lines - the cultures just don't see it as an issue. The structure of magic power is also done completely differently than anything else I've seen. And she's a great writer and the characters come across excellently. So glad this is a series so I don't have to be done after this. AWESOME. ...more
This read like Slow River but with a vaguely different and simpler plot structure. Same born-rich-but-forced-into-horrible-situations protagonist, samThis read like Slow River but with a vaguely different and simpler plot structure. Same born-rich-but-forced-into-horrible-situations protagonist, same corporate social politics stuff... still good, but it's pretty obvious she's Nicola Griffith's girlfriend....more
Queer YA novel, but about 13-year-old girls. I liked that both girls were way more open to learning about each other than those in other similar booksQueer YA novel, but about 13-year-old girls. I liked that both girls were way more open to learning about each other than those in other similar books. ...more
This is a pretty wrenching book about what happens when a teenage gay boy and his adult boyfriends are caught, the adult boyfriends get in serious troThis is a pretty wrenching book about what happens when a teenage gay boy and his adult boyfriends are caught, the adult boyfriends get in serious trouble, and the teenage boy's family turns on him in a major way. The concurrent plot centers around the lawyer who takes on the adult boyfriend's case, and her relationship with her girlfriend. Both plots are equally gripping. Clearly, Sarah Schulman has no problem updating her depressing-things-happen-to-gay-people style for the 2000s. Warning- some parts of this book are extremely upsetting. ...more
I'm not giving this book 5 stars because I think it's the best book ever (because I don't) but because it has done the best job yet of anything (booksI'm not giving this book 5 stars because I think it's the best book ever (because I don't) but because it has done the best job yet of anything (books, movies, speeches, AIDS education, etc) in really giving me a glimpse into the AIDS crisis. Which is very important. This history is both recent, and the direct history of one of the groups of people to which I belong, and yet, it's not something that has ever affected me personally, so I really appreciate anything like this that lets me in enough to even begin to understand.
Though, I have to say I'm not on board with the whole Rent plagiarism thing. Yes, there are thematic similarities, even major ones, but overall the plots and the characters are so different that I don't buy it....more
i read this for Think Galactic, and liked it well enough but didn't love it to death or anything. there were a few really stand-out moments though, bui read this for Think Galactic, and liked it well enough but didn't love it to death or anything. there were a few really stand-out moments though, but i think if anything i felt like too big a story was trying to be told in too short a novel. it tries to span all these years of the main character (whose name we never learn, which irritates me)'s life, from her childhood with her sisters, abusive father, and mother on a farm in alberta, to her adulthood when she has a strange pregnancy and also having weird issues with her two best friends and has a job finding stray shopping carts. everything seemed a bit incomplete, and often bits of the story seemed thrown in for no plot-related reason.
this won the Tiptree, but i can't really think of any amazing gender related insights in the book. the characters spanned a lot of gender expression and crap but i think more than that should be needed to get a Tiptree, so maybe i'm just missing something. ...more
short and not-that-deep gay kids in high school book. might be good for kids that don't experience huge amounts of angst or homophobia, but are still short and not-that-deep gay kids in high school book. might be good for kids that don't experience huge amounts of angst or homophobia, but are still trying to figure things out. actually, come to think of it it's awesome that that category even exists and that there's a book for it. ...more
This is a really sad book focusing on three friends, two lesbians and a gay man, in New York City in the early 90s when all their gay male friends (anThis is a really sad book focusing on three friends, two lesbians and a gay man, in New York City in the early 90s when all their gay male friends (and the main gay male character) are dying of AIDS. The characters themselves were kind of annoying in that all three viewpoint characters basically had the same voice and thought process, but I'm glad I read it nonetheless. I'm so far removed from that part of history, even though it had such a huge impact on where things are in the queer world today, and this book helped me get at least somewhat of a glimpse into it. As with the last book I reviewed about dead gay guys, don't read this book if you like happy endings. ...more
Loading...
