Reviews

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

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sophiasahota's review against another edition

"I miss God. I miss the company of someone utterly loyal. I still don't think of God as my betrayer. The servants of God, yes, but servants by their very nature betray. I miss God who was my friend. I don't even know if God exists, but I do know that if God is your emotional role model, very few human relationships will match up to it.”

I found Winterson’s storytelling creative and unlike a lot of the books I read, which are usually just the conventional chronological story with no offshoots or anecdotes or allegories. The extreme evangelical sect the main character Jeanette is raised in teaches quite little about romantic love, let alone queer love, so when Jeanette falls in love with Melanie (another girl in the church), it is the most innocent/natural/pure strain of queer love you can imagine. They don’t even know that romantic love between two women is an option, and they know it’s maybe wrong but no one educated them on why. So they have this beautiful relationship that has no precedent, no rules, no example. And it is so organic.

“I would cross seas and suffer sunstroke and give away all I have, but not for a man, because they want to be the destroyer and never the destroyed. That is why they are unfit for romantic love. There are exceptions and I hope they are happy."

This quote. You may not relate or agree, but this is my review and I relate AND agree. I am in this constant war with my queerness, and this was like one of those little easter eggs where it’s like yeah if you related to this that hard then you’re probably a lesbian and you should accept that sooner rather than later. But I’m not gonna get into that just yet on Good reads.

Overall: short read, not my favorite type of storytelling but I still appreciated it. I honestly wish it was longer and more in depth, but I guess that would not be compatible with the author’s style of writing here.

lanalabonita's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.25

whatcarlaread's review against another edition

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funny reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

inlovewithgoodbooks's review against another edition

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challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lavrendy's review against another edition

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2.0

I sped through this one because I wasn’t really enjoying it but was curious to see where it went. And while there were some rewarding passages at the end, I’m still not satisfied. The writing was odd and messy and I feel validated to see exact phrases that baffled me being quoted in other reviews on here.

Even with the confusing prose and repetitive lore strewn throughout, this book definitely delivered in the religious inner conflict department. It simultaneously felt overcooked (religion/metaphors) and half-baked (self-acceptance/reckoning) by the end. The author was so young when she wrote it though, I’m sure her later works include more on her journey after leaving her church.