Reviews
I think a good book for white women. But my continuous disinterest in this book, its characters, its plot, I’ve realized, stems from an inability to connect with the white sapphic experience. From its ideological ties with sappho and fiction and Protestantism, apparent in its etymology, to the modern New York take on anarchy against and conformation to patriarchal modes of existence. A satire that doesn’t quite make it, doesn’t inspire anything real in me, which is likely just the folly of my positionality.
Wow I really don’t know what to make of this haute-femme queer-sex-dream/nightmare of a novel 🎀🍬🪡🐣
I was fully pulled into Sasha’s perspective then slowly suffocated by the overbearing neuroses of all the characters.
Something here about unknowability, overidentification, the sweet surrender of gender roles and the twisted camp of performing them. I loved how it challenged a straight reading and I hated how little the ending gave me.
I don’t know if it was a home-run, but I’ll definitely be thinking about it.
'dykette' comes across as gaudy gaudy spectacle, a masterclass in the kind of white lesbians you would find scattered across williamsburg. crammed full of community lingo, it feels like listening to a friend at brunch trying to tell what she insists is a thrilling story only for her to get sidetracked every few moments sneaking in anecdotes that will surely convince you she's the victim in all this. in the end, every build-up ends up in this confusing conclusion that leaves you a bit annoyed and circling back to figure out where exactly they lost you.
this novel made me feel as though i was part of the audience, that sasha is convincing me to see her side throughout it all. and while her argument does not have any moral high ground, everyone else comes across just insufferable enough that you leave sympathizing with yourself most at the end. each promise of scandal or any plotline of note is quickly squashed down into some drab abyss that it never quite recovers from.
but it does its job of taking you with them, no matter how much second hand embarrassment i felt, i stuck through to the bitter end. was i a better person because of it? likely not, but i left on this one unified note with our protagonist, one moment right at the landing where it seemed we looked at each other and thought - dear god what was that? and who the hell was it all for?
wow i’ll write a better review later but what a good book and what a great addition to lesbian literature
