Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Girls Can Kiss Now: Essays by Jill Gutowitz

14 reviews

ecn's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

5.0

One of my favorite books from this year! If you’re queer, grew up in the 2000s, and are obsessed with pop culture, this book is for you. I already want more.
If you’re a fan of The 2000s Made Me Gay, you’ll love this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, and Outing

hmatt's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.5

As a millennial queer, I found most of these essays funny and/or relatable, and I enjoyed the reading experience. Some highlights for me included the essay on "outing" culture a la Perez Hilton vs. current online fan speculation and the "listicle"-style sections on the top sapphic paparazzi photos and things that are Lesbian Canon.

Unfortunately, I feel like the collection starts strong, but loses steam as it goes. It does a good job balancing the memoir-y bits with the broader cultural talk in, for instance, the essay about the FBI showing up on the author's doorstep. Towards the end of the collection, though, there are a number of strictly autobiographical "essays" that I just didn't get anything from. There is a real gap in the collection with regard to, well, any other sapphic voices besides the author's. I think I would have been more engaged in the collection as a whole if she had swapped out some of the autobiographical sections for broader perspectives on how pop culture influenced the experience of growing up queer in the naughties.

This is short, though, and the audiobook is narrated (importantly, narrated well) by the author, so I'd still recommend going in for the whole thing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Outing

Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

The description of rape is contained to one essay, "I Know This Now". In an earlier essay, the author describes their own experiences viewing pornography as a minor.

mallory10100's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

5.0

god i LOVED this!! one of the most relatable books i’ve ever read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Biphobia, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Dementia, and Classism

i highly recommend this!!

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.0

Thanks to Atria Books for the free advance copy of this book.

 - GIRLS CAN KISS NOW is a hyperfocused deep dive into growing up and coming out in the 2000s. Gutowitz breaks down the journey lesbian culture and visibility took in those years, from hidden secret to loud and proud.
- I'm a few years older than the author, but so much of her experience of growing up as a suburban white girl receiving conflicting information about what being gay meant (and therefore being unable to discern whether you were gay) resonated deeply with me.
- A lot of really rough stuff is covered here, from generalized lesbophobia to forced outing, but this essay collection is actual laugh out loud hilarious. I kept reading passages aloud to my spouse, trying not to snort laugh at descriptions of furtively using the family computer or falling into lesbian TikTok. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, and Outing

Minor: Transphobia, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol