Jewelle Gomez

A Novel

The Gilda Stories

Meagan Fischer 

Recommended by a friend, very interesting concepts and expansion of the vampire genre. Middling rating because it reads like a first draft to me, with a very zoomed out feeling. I wasn't invested in the action most of the time, partly because so much of it happened off screen. It's more of a character study than a story with plot, perhaps, but even then - I had a hard time parsing out the protagonist's feelings and motivations. Except when they were told to me in an expository fashion, which also wasn't super enjoyable. Apparently this is not true for many black lesbian readers, so maybe it's just a matter of having the life experience to relate to. Nevertheless I don't regret reading it and it led to some interesting conversations with my friend.

a Black lesbian vampire traveling through the ages & exploring what it means to cherish life through centuries of transforming fear & greed & whimsy ? sign me up

mira lee

A.L.L.

Lovely. 

Took a bit to get into it and adjust to the pacing of the book, but once I did I found myself enjoying this book quite a lot. 

It's a slow paced, slice of life type book. The sexy scenes lack steam which might be disappointing if you came for hot lesbian romance, but I appreciated Gilda's need and desire for strong emotional bonds. 

I also really like how vampirism works in this story. I enjoyed the cadence of the storytelling too. The ending hit a bit hard. Perhaps too accurately. 

It pairs well with Octavia Butler's Fledgeling.

Before Buffy, before Twilight, before Octavia Butler s Fledgling, there was The Gilda Stories, Jewelle Gomez s sexy vampire novel."

Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition

This is such a unique book! I'm actually having trouble rating it, because it wasn't exactly my cup of tea stylistically, but it's obviously groundbreaking and ahead of its time considering when it was published. I'm settling on 3.5, though I may raise it after a reread.

This was a lot more literary than I expected - less driven by plot and more driven by symbolism. It was still enjoyable though, I just found myself wanting more. The chapters skip decades and often recap what happened between chapters in the first page, so it was a bit like watching all the season finales of a show, complete with the "previously on..." segments, which serve as a refresher but aren't a full substitute for watching all the preceding episodes. I wanted to be on the journey with Gilda, but instead I felt like a lot of it was briefly summed up instead of fleshed out. I wish the plot were more streamlined and continuous as a result, which is what I mean when I say it wasn't my cup of tea stylistically.

I also feel like the afterword in the 25th anniversary edition really helped me understand the book better. I'm not the best analyst while I'm reading, as I usually read for enjoyment, so I missed some of the symbolism and meaning in the book as I was reading. The afterword really helped me see the book in a new light. I may need to reread it so I can look for these literary elements, since I went into this expecting a plot-driven fantasy.

Overall, it was not what I expected, but I think it's an important book. I didn't have the right mindset when I read it, so I think I need to revisit it to fully appreciate it.

The Gilda Stories A Novel

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