coolfoolmoon's Reviews (357)

In my journal notes I wrote, "if heterosexuality could be a trigger..." So. Here we go.

My nice review for this book would be: you could describe it as very comic book-y or very camp-y, but that doesn't necessarily mean it in the good way.

I first read this book when I was 13 or 14, and this is well and truly a book I could've only enjoyed when I was a teen. I adored it then, and unfortunately I think it inspired the way I write now... which I will now be unlearning.

Did you ever learn that technique in middle/high school where, let's say you're reading an English or History book, you read the first sentence and then then the rest of the paragraph is just overexplaining that first sentence. So then you learn "Okay, I don't have to read ALL of this chapter, I have homework due and another paper to write, and I have-" So to cut time, you just read the first sentence. and somehow you still passed the test with an acceptable grade?

That's what 90% of this book is. Metaphors and similes and extreme run-on sentences. If you flipped through the pages you'd think "Holy shit, is this book only five sentences?" One sentence-paragraph was so long on one page it bled onto the other half of the next page. All description. And not in a way that's emersive, at least not for me; it got really distracting, but even though I skimmed most of it I didn't miss anything important to the story.

Now, to be fair, I usually find dialogue a lot more important and usually drift towards that, but if you like books that are extremely description heavy, you can ignore everything I just said.

Probably the worst part about this book is the way truly everyone is nitpicked for their looks in a very disgusting way. If you didn't have dysmorphia before reading this, you might start looking at yourself funny. The book doesn't even end on that happy of a note, it's more like "I guess I'll love you, despite fact that you're so hideous."

The ending still confuses me. And I really can't explain it, because in my mind whenever I try to form the words I keep hittinf road blocks. But, to all white people, please don't ever try to write magic realism ever again.

I hate Tom Kelly's death. Like. Either he died of AIDS or something worse than AIDS, but to not say it? And to blame it on a "nomadic African tribe"?

The casual/overt/hush-toned racism in the book is so... it MUST have been written by a white gay man. Probably from New York. Or, more realistically, probably from a small town somewhere in the Midwest, who moved to New York to with dreams of being on Broadway, but he ended up working as an assistant and rubbing shoulders with high class people until eventually he felt comfortable enough saying he wasn't famous, but he knew a lot of people who were. But he "doesn't like to brag about it," he says with a smug look. And he worked real hard and pulled himself up by his bootstraps and didn't complain and took the shit and eventually ended up getting his own book published. I could look at the sleeve of my book and confirm if any of what I said is real, but I will not. Because, if you're reading this, and you already read the book, you probably got that feeling too, and you know I'm right.

That all being said? Tom Kelly is that bitch. Tom Kelly has always been that bitch. Tom Kelly will always be that bitch. Tom Kelly, for a moment, makes me forget I hate men. Tom Kelly. Tom Kelly... Tom Kelly. ❤

There's plenty to talk about after reading this, and plenty to critique, but overall I highly recommend this as a must read for EVERYONE. Regardless of whatever. A must read is a must read.

My biggest critique I noticed while reading it is Rich's use of people of color as examples. She mentions women of color around the world and collective oppression they face, including some things that I don't know much about but had previously thought of them as cultural practices, then uses Black lesbian authors as her main examples other than white women.

I would've had no problem with that, except she uses no other stories from lesbian authors of color. It made me think of how white queers often try to make a connection with us (Black queers) because they think they can relate to us somehow. Like, they finally understand oppression now. It made me think of white saviorism, how whites made a mess in other parts of the world and now think they're going to be the ones to lead the charge to fix it. Had she used an excerpt from a brown, Latinx or Asian or other, lesbian author, I would've not mentioned it in my review, but to specifically use Black women made me think of the heavy lifting Black women have done, and how whites often take credit for it.

She does try at least, at least acknowledging we need to make a future for all races, ethnicities, and classes, but it's a very white woman thing I noticed to 1.) poke at other people (of color)'s traditions, 2.) use Black women words to amplify white voices, 3.) not mention any work by other people of color, and finally 4.) call for the inclusion of all people for ultimate liberation. Like... babe the call is coming from inside the house. :/

But I still highly recommend this. I pray lesbians in 2080 read this piece and can see the changes that have been made. I hope they are further leaps that the future I can imagine. I hope, I hope.

she's just like me... 🥰❤

The only real problem with this book is the sheer amount of current pop culture references. Like, yes it's contemporary, but this book is amazing, wonderful, great, damn near perfect, beautiful, stellar, insert more synonyms here!!! And if not for the pop culture references, I think this book could've been a timeless classic instead of just a modern one.

I wasn't just in the mind of a fat brown teenage girl, I was me again. (Except, I'm black.) Me, just a few years ago. Me, right now. Me, feeling something more than the buzzword representation. I wanna hold this book to my chest and tattoo the letters on to my heart. I want my nonexistent kids to read this book and know they are worthy, they are beautiful, they are loved, and here's the reasonable, sometimes realistically frustrating, sweet book that will show them that, if they didn't know it already.

What a lovely book to start with as my introduction back into reading! 🥰

We all read this in 7th grade, right? What was the lesson supposed to be? Kids are mean sometimes???

Some lines are purely beautiful. Especially the description of thunder from the perspective of kids who'd never heard anything other than thunder.

Much like plenty of people in the Pacific Northwest, Margot has seasonal depression. And, much like many of them, she doesn't know it.

I read this years ago in high school and was so moved by it...

Well I'm an adult now.

I can see why I liked it, I still think it's pretty good, good enough to ignore the typos.

Towards the end I was thinking, "This story would be so much better if it was gay." But I think that about most things.

It gets pretty repetitive, trying to give off the creepy "Remember, this guy's the villain, don't like him too much!" vibe, but still I think it's good.

Might reread again in another 5 years if it's still on Wattpad.

Fighting every instinct, every bone in my body to not give this book five stars. Only excuse I can give is that it was written by a white woman! But God, it's SO good! Dare I say it's perfect!!!

Speaking as a person who is not of Asian descent whatsoever.... The white woman who wrote this kinda ate this up. Miss Smith kinda gobbled. Kinda signed sealed served and delivered.

They have sex on page 169. That's iconic.

Now that I'm 22, Reiko being a teenager still (and the age I was when I first read this) makes so much sense. She's so angsty, just like I was. I can almost see how this book shaped bits of who I am now. (But disregard my bias for this review!) Some of the lines are so funny, but not in a I'm laughing at you way, in a This is so honest and real to a slighted teen's experience and view of the world. I love her with all my heart. Thank you to the white woman who wrote this book because it's truly in my top 5 favorite books. And it's not number 5!

It's been a while since I read this but I still think about it. It's upheld as a literary classic but when I first read the first few pages, all the way to the end of the book, all I could think about was how the book was very white. There's no other way to explain that feeling. It lacks a depth that can't be grasped by white people, to me it's as deep as a kiddie pool, but to whites it's as grand and as vast as the ocean. If I were white though, I'd probably love it. I'd probably think it's one of the best books of the modern age. But it's not. It really is missing something.