Reviews

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown

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bibi003's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars and a solid kick off to pride month with a little bit of classic lesbian lit (first published in 1973). A coming-of-age story spanning from the late 1940s to the 60s, this first-person narrative follows Molly Bolt out of rural Pennsylvania to Florida, and eventually New York City.

I really enjoyed this story. At first, I was going to give this book a higher rating (4). It is really easy for me to get swept away in fiction and when I first finish a book, I'm so full of feelings I don't always remember to examine the full story with a critical eye. But then I read some other community reviews and realized that, yes, there are some problems with this book that necessitate it being knocked down a peg or two (a half-star in this case). I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Anna Paquin. Her distinctive voice was a little tricky in the beginning because I couldn't get her character Sookie Stackhouse from the True Blood TV series out of my head. But she did a really good job with it.

First, what I liked. I really liked the protagonist Molly's spunky determination. This girl speaks her mind and unapologetically marches to the beat of her own drum. She is smart and brave and she works hard to achieve her goals, never wavering from her conviction that she deserves to live her life to her own design, despite all the bullshit that the world tosses at her. I liked how raunchy some of the scenes were. Brown starts right off with some childhood sexual exploration and it snowballs from there on out. And I have to say - I was relieved and happy that Molly and her adopted mom had a chance to reconnect toward the end of the book. Also, this book make me feel all the RAGE at the unfairness of misogyny and bigotry and homophobia. But in a good way. It was meant to do that.

And now the problems: the author appears to condone incest (ick) and her treatment of butch lesbians is dismissive and judgemental. Not cool.

mayasowerby's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

aquamarinecadet's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-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

4.75

god i really enjoyed this. LETS GO LESBIANS! will add more later

all was good, except for the incest bit which was... ew.

iamthecampion's review against another edition

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reflective fast-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

4.0

A classic for a reason, and resonates even in 2024, I loved it.

rebeccalcohen's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad fast-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

5.0

stephibabes's review against another edition

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3.0

This novel felt perfectly fine, but just didn't quite grab me. Oddly, I think I would have enjoyed this as a TV series, but as a novel it didn't quite entertain as much as some other stuff. The main character is not entirely likeable. But then, that usually draws me into a novel.

Not quite sure what it was, we just didn't click.

I borrowed this audiobook using the BorrowBox App from my library. Support your local library!