nnevergreen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
beaetal's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
nataliedc's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A genre-bending character study of queer 22-year-old shapeshifter Paul Polydoris living in the gay scenes of various towns across 1990s America. Despite the amazingly unique premise, I struggled to get into this story at first due to its odd, slow pacing and lack of chapter breaks. With that said, the middle part (in which Paul becomes Polly and lives with a girlfriend, Diane, in Provincetown) really caught my attention and I finally started to sympathize with this complex, yet deeply loveable character. I love Paul as a character - faults and all - as well as the ambiguity of his shapeshifting abilities. I definitely think this novel could've been a lot tighter (there were a lot of short stories scattered about Paul's own story that I didn't fully understand the whole context of) but, nevertheless, this was an extremely memorable read that I hope to come back to someday.
heyguysitsnicole's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
3.5 stars - really fun exposition but the rest of the plot is just okay
hcop's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kstenbookstore's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
laynieee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0