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gradybell's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
lsayh's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
hdowlinghuppert's review
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alexture's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The main negative review I see about Proud Pink Sky is that nothing happens.
I don't agree.
Some things happen, maybe too much, actually. And outside of what happens, there's the world-building − after all, that's what we're coming for.
And the world-building has its issues. The idea is nice, and who among us hasn't dreamed of a queer haven in the world? But why would the rest of the world hate queer people so much more than in our current world? Why does the author want trans people to keep suffering so much all the time? And most importantly, when a butch and a femme who love each other move in together, which neighbourhood do they live in?
An unacceptable plot hole.
(More seriously: this book was nice enough, but honestly, it's one of these books where I hope they will inspire someone else to do the same, just better.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Transphobia, and Homophobia
posthumusly's review against another edition
2.0
I just couldn't get into this. The characters and slang put me off.
laur1099's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Soooo slow to get to the plot. The end is kind of a cliffhanger and very anti-climactic and like ???? Such an interesting concept for a book and im sad that it was more of a "what if im the victim in every reality" author self-insert and less of a fully fleshed story.
siavahda's review against another edition
2.0
HIGHLIGHTS
~twinks have their own city district
~so do Daddies
~Cissie is not a sissy but is she cis???
I’m not sure what I think of Proud Pink Sky. I was so excited by the premise – especially when the author assured me that trans and nonbinary people played a central role! – that it was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023.
Now I’ve finished it, I feel a little…underwhelmed?
Proud Pink Sky is an alternate-history novel where Berlin became the world’s first ‘gay state’ in the aftermath of WW2, due in large part to the role the queer community played in resisting the Nazis. (In fact, in this timeline, the Nazis were kicked out of Berlin before the start of the war by the ‘gay brigades’ who had zero time for fascists.) This has in no way endeared or even normalised queerness to the rest of the world, unfortunately, and Berlin sees a huge number of gay and lesbian refugees and immigrants for this reason.
The story takes place over about a year – starting in 1998 and wrapping up in 1999 – and follows three main characters: William and Gareth, teenagers who escape to Berlin from England after their relationship is discovered; and Cissie, a homemaker who moves to Berlin from Ohio with her husband and children because the ‘gay city’ has plenty of great job opportunities, even for ‘breeders’ – although they’re expected to keep themselves to themselves in the hetero district of the city.
(And yes, I laughed at Cissie’s very on-the-nose name. I AM IMMATURE AND EASILY AMUSED.)
Barrett has done an enormous amount of worldbuilding, with this alternate-Berlin’s history mirroring or echoing our real world in some very interesting ways. Despite what you might expect, Berlin is not a glorious, free-for-all queer utopia (alas); instead it’s an incredibly rigid, unforgiving culture obsessed with sticking its citizens in the ‘right’ categories, categories which are even reflected in the city’s geography (as each approved subculture or label is given their own district). Bisexuality is legal, but viewed with immense suspicion, and it’s not safe for m/f couples to be in public as couples (we see one such couple assaulted, harassed, and eventually driven from the bar where Gareth works). Monogamy is mandatory; refugees and immigrants don’t receive full citizenship unless they’re married to someone of their own sex, lest ‘secret straights’ flood Berlin by lying about their sexual orientation. (Why anyone thinks this is a thing, when the rest of the world is still homophobic as fuck, is…well, once upon a time I would have called it poor worldbuilding, but being a bit older and wiser and more cynical, I now don’t find it hard to believe. It makes no sense, but then, bigots panicking about immigration never do.)
The list goes on, but a clear focus of Proud Pink Sky is the trans and nonbinary community. Despite acknowledging that it was trans people who kickstarted the riots that drove out the Nazis (echoing our world’s Stonewall) and the fact that, pre-Nazis, Berlin was the site of the first sex-change operation in the world, in this alt-Berlin it is illegal to be anything but cis. Anyone who doesn’t fit inside the binary is cast out to the slums, which are enclosed in an 8km wall (significantly shorter than our world’s Berlin Wall, but an obvious nod to it). To be trans and/or nonbinary is to be considered a pervert at best and a member of a queer terrorist group at worst.
And what little plot exists here revolves around Remould, the aforementioned walled-in neighbourhood. Cissie makes her way there by accident, and gradually begins to form relationships with the people there and find meaningful work for herself (not that taking care of a home and children aren’t meaningful, but at least to Cissie they seem meaningful in a different way). William, uneasily aware that he doesn’t fit neatly into Berlin any more than he did back in England, grows increasingly sympathetic towards and drawn to everyone who doesn’t fit neatly into their assigned boxes. Gareth, eager to embrace all that Berlin is, doesn’t understand William’s reticence, and friction ensues.
That’s…kind of it.
Proud Pink Sky is, honestly, mortally dull. Nothing really happens. Until the very sudden, massively confusing ending, which I think was an attempt to give the book a hopeful ending, but, uh…no. No. That’s not how human beings work. That’s not how people respond to That. That’s not how communities react to That. That? Is not any kind of magic wand that suddenly makes people less bigoted or less afraid. What even.
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
~twinks have their own city district
~so do Daddies
~Cissie is not a sissy but is she cis???
I’m not sure what I think of Proud Pink Sky. I was so excited by the premise – especially when the author assured me that trans and nonbinary people played a central role! – that it was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023.
Now I’ve finished it, I feel a little…underwhelmed?
Proud Pink Sky is an alternate-history novel where Berlin became the world’s first ‘gay state’ in the aftermath of WW2, due in large part to the role the queer community played in resisting the Nazis. (In fact, in this timeline, the Nazis were kicked out of Berlin before the start of the war by the ‘gay brigades’ who had zero time for fascists.) This has in no way endeared or even normalised queerness to the rest of the world, unfortunately, and Berlin sees a huge number of gay and lesbian refugees and immigrants for this reason.
The story takes place over about a year – starting in 1998 and wrapping up in 1999 – and follows three main characters: William and Gareth, teenagers who escape to Berlin from England after their relationship is discovered; and Cissie, a homemaker who moves to Berlin from Ohio with her husband and children because the ‘gay city’ has plenty of great job opportunities, even for ‘breeders’ – although they’re expected to keep themselves to themselves in the hetero district of the city.
(And yes, I laughed at Cissie’s very on-the-nose name. I AM IMMATURE AND EASILY AMUSED.)
Barrett has done an enormous amount of worldbuilding, with this alternate-Berlin’s history mirroring or echoing our real world in some very interesting ways. Despite what you might expect, Berlin is not a glorious, free-for-all queer utopia (alas); instead it’s an incredibly rigid, unforgiving culture obsessed with sticking its citizens in the ‘right’ categories, categories which are even reflected in the city’s geography (as each approved subculture or label is given their own district). Bisexuality is legal, but viewed with immense suspicion, and it’s not safe for m/f couples to be in public as couples (we see one such couple assaulted, harassed, and eventually driven from the bar where Gareth works). Monogamy is mandatory; refugees and immigrants don’t receive full citizenship unless they’re married to someone of their own sex, lest ‘secret straights’ flood Berlin by lying about their sexual orientation. (Why anyone thinks this is a thing, when the rest of the world is still homophobic as fuck, is…well, once upon a time I would have called it poor worldbuilding, but being a bit older and wiser and more cynical, I now don’t find it hard to believe. It makes no sense, but then, bigots panicking about immigration never do.)
The list goes on, but a clear focus of Proud Pink Sky is the trans and nonbinary community. Despite acknowledging that it was trans people who kickstarted the riots that drove out the Nazis (echoing our world’s Stonewall) and the fact that, pre-Nazis, Berlin was the site of the first sex-change operation in the world, in this alt-Berlin it is illegal to be anything but cis. Anyone who doesn’t fit inside the binary is cast out to the slums, which are enclosed in an 8km wall (significantly shorter than our world’s Berlin Wall, but an obvious nod to it). To be trans and/or nonbinary is to be considered a pervert at best and a member of a queer terrorist group at worst.
And what little plot exists here revolves around Remould, the aforementioned walled-in neighbourhood. Cissie makes her way there by accident, and gradually begins to form relationships with the people there and find meaningful work for herself (not that taking care of a home and children aren’t meaningful, but at least to Cissie they seem meaningful in a different way). William, uneasily aware that he doesn’t fit neatly into Berlin any more than he did back in England, grows increasingly sympathetic towards and drawn to everyone who doesn’t fit neatly into their assigned boxes. Gareth, eager to embrace all that Berlin is, doesn’t understand William’s reticence, and friction ensues.
That’s…kind of it.
Proud Pink Sky is, honestly, mortally dull. Nothing really happens. Until the very sudden, massively confusing ending, which I think was an attempt to give the book a hopeful ending, but, uh…no. No. That’s not how human beings work. That’s not how people respond to That. That’s not how communities react to That. That? Is not any kind of magic wand that suddenly makes people less bigoted or less afraid. What even.
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
percy_roy's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
colinmeldrum's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0