Joshua Whitehead

A tour-de-force debut novel about a Two-Spirit Indigiqueer young man and proud NDN glitter princess who must reckon with his past when he returns home to his reservation.

A Novel

Jonny Appleseed

Lindsay

having conflicted feelings about this book, bc it addresses sm important things, and i do love how open it is about sexuality, but its just a tad too horny for me bc why are you giving head to zeus

Stas

Lyric Hooey

I think this topic is important, and the writing style was well done, buuutttt…. It unfortunately was not for me. I can appreciate it and am glad I read it, but there were a tad too many graphic descriptions of bodily fluids for my personal taste.

WINNER, Lambda Literary Award “You’re gonna need a rock and a whole lotta medicine” is a mantra that Jonny Appleseed, a young Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer, repeats to himself in this vivid and utterly compelling novel. Off the reserve and trying to find ways to live and love in the big city, Jonny becomes a cybersex worker who fetishizes himself in order to make a living. Self-ordained as an NDN glitter princess, Jonny has one week before he must return to the “rez,” and his former life, to attend the funeral of his stepfather. The next seven days are like a fevered dream: stories of love, trauma, sex, kinship, ambition, and the heartbreaking recollection of his beloved kokum (grandmother). Jonny’s life is a series of breakages, appendages, and linkages—and as he goes through the motions of preparing to return home, he learns how to put together the pieces of his life. Jonny Appleseed is a unique, shattering vision of First Nations life, full of grit, glitter, and dreams.

Julie Weber

Equally heartbreaking and funny. It is told as a series of vignettes jumping between present day and Johnny’s childhood so I found it was a bit hard to follow on audiobook. Soooo many beautiful quotes though! I wish I had a physical copy I could annotate.

Fraser Simons

I have not read anything like it before. There's an undercurrent of hope along with something much more systemic and deep than just melancholy. It is explicit but not gratuitous and the matter-of-fact authorial voice gives equal weight to the best and worst moments of Jonny's life leading up to his return to the reservation. One of my favorite books in recent memory.

“My home is full of hope and ghosts.”

Shelby Doherty

** spoiler alert **
           Likes:
- Perspective comes from people that I do not normally hear from (queer/two-spirit, indigenous, sex worker)
- Feels like an excellent time to read this when first nations people are at the forefront of many conversations in Canada
- Gives a fuller idea of the Canadian experience for a reader who is new to the country.

Dislikes: 
- Depictions of sex were overly graphic for my prude mind haha

Isabelle Dion

Although I like writing style and found the subject matter interesting, this one kind of missed the mark for me. The pacing of the chapters threw me off from the start with a "slice of life" narrative that explores the main characters life through short chapters that jump from past to present with seemingly no clear pattern (which means I was sometimes lost/confused). I feel like the book would have had more impact with a slightly different structure. Since this was a character-focused book with little plot, I would've liked to see more character development mixed in with Jonny's self-reflection.

Witch

An absolutely beautiful and incredible story.

Trigger warnings: (view spoiler)[racism, homomisia (hide spoiler)]

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I have never read something quite like, a book that is so unapologetic and raw and in-your-face, yet steeped with emotions, both crass and soft. And for that, I am truly appreciative of picking it up. 

However I have to be honest, I really didn't enjoy this book. Whether it was because of this crassness, the incredibly graphic display of erotic content and thoughts, or I just was not the intended audience for this slice-of-life story, I'm not sure. But I have a definite respect for Whitehead's storytelling and would love to try out something else he has authored.

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Happy reading! ❤

Jonny Appleseed A Novel

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