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lattelibrarian's review
3.0
When I first saw this book, I was all, oh my god, lesbians?? How have I not heard about this book before? Well, let me answer this for you, and triggering spoiler alert: it has rape in it. It also has lots of homophobia in it. I mean, I get it, it's a book from the 70s, and not only that, but it's a book from the 70s about lesbians where neither of the two are converted or die at the end. And that's pretty controversial. Unfortunately, this book just...did not age well. By the last chapter, I was wondering how a woman could have actually written this. Because there was not only rape and homophobia but other huge acts of violence as well against these characters.
I'm sure this book is supposed to show perseverance as well as the now common fact that it "gets better," but really, it was just hard to read. Especially the journal bits from the rapist's perspective. Those parts were so nasty, and so violent. Turns out, Scoppettone is also a mystery writer, so knowing that helps me understand better the form of this book, but I still just don't know why anybody, much less a woman, would want to inflict such horrific pain on her female characters. I know that things like this still happen today, that these things are not uncommon, but maybe it's too much to hope for a truly happy ending.
Review cross-listed here!
I'm sure this book is supposed to show perseverance as well as the now common fact that it "gets better," but really, it was just hard to read. Especially the journal bits from the rapist's perspective. Those parts were so nasty, and so violent. Turns out, Scoppettone is also a mystery writer, so knowing that helps me understand better the form of this book, but I still just don't know why anybody, much less a woman, would want to inflict such horrific pain on her female characters. I know that things like this still happen today, that these things are not uncommon, but maybe it's too much to hope for a truly happy ending.
Review cross-listed here!
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