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eletricjb's review
3.0
Kind of delightfully quaint. That '70s slang makes it feel way more dated than anything I've ever read. Far out, man. Anyway, I wonder what I would have thought of this if I'd gotten my hands on it ten years ago. It's well-intentioned, but not very skillfully written. And there certainly isn't enough actual interaction between Jaret and Peggy to make it worthwhile. Really glad that Jaret didn't hesitate to name her attacker, though. Fuck that guy.
lilytucker's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
3.5
slc54hiwi's review
4.0
Somehow, I missed this YA title when I *was* a YA - probably I was busy re-reading MHL or Rosamund DuJardin!
This is an amazing book, all the more so since it was published 30 years ago. It's the story of two high school graduates - both female - who become lovers and then deal with a horrific aftermath that includes the sexual assault of one of them after a quarrel.
It's a bit of a period piece, given the slang and the wholesale adoption of early feminist phraseology, but still an amazing book. I wonder if it could even be published now, in a USA that has become far more right-wing and intolerant.
This is an amazing book, all the more so since it was published 30 years ago. It's the story of two high school graduates - both female - who become lovers and then deal with a horrific aftermath that includes the sexual assault of one of them after a quarrel.
It's a bit of a period piece, given the slang and the wholesale adoption of early feminist phraseology, but still an amazing book. I wonder if it could even be published now, in a USA that has become far more right-wing and intolerant.
swee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-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? No
3.75
thegabecole's review against another edition
2.0
This...had a ton of problems. I’ll write a longer review when I get the chance.
icequeen13's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
lleullawgyffes's review against another edition
challenging
4.25
for starters: trigger warning for rape.
I'm having a hard time articulating anything about this book, but I'm going to try . I think the writing is occasionally a little clunky (especially at the beginning), but on the whole I think Scoppettone does a really good job, especially with the varied voices. I think there are moments where it gets a little preachy (as one might expect from a YA novel from 1978 about lesbians by a lesbian), but I also think it makes a very conscious effort to realistically portray a range of reactions, positive and negative and in between, to Jaret and Peggy being lesbians.
and, as other people have noted, it's not a punishment story. it does include (center on, even) a rape, and Scoppettone doesn't hold back either in writing that scene or in writing the aftermath — Jaret trying to deal with a traumatic experience, the legal system's prejudice against her both as a woman and as a lesbian, public reaction when she is outed by her rapist, etc.
but it doesn't give up, and it doesn't tell us Jaret deserved what she got. and it doesn't end with any of the classic tropes: there are no dead lesbians, and neither Jaret nor Peggy "goes back to being straight".
I'm having a hard time articulating anything about this book, but I'm going to try . I think the writing is occasionally a little clunky (especially at the beginning), but on the whole I think Scoppettone does a really good job, especially with the varied voices. I think there are moments where it gets a little preachy (as one might expect from a YA novel from 1978 about lesbians by a lesbian), but I also think it makes a very conscious effort to realistically portray a range of reactions, positive and negative and in between, to Jaret and Peggy being lesbians.
and, as other people have noted, it's not a punishment story. it does include (center on, even) a rape, and Scoppettone doesn't hold back either in writing that scene or in writing the aftermath — Jaret trying to deal with a traumatic experience, the legal system's prejudice against her both as a woman and as a lesbian, public reaction when she is outed by her rapist, etc.
but it doesn't give up, and it doesn't tell us Jaret deserved what she got. and it doesn't end with any of the classic tropes: there are no dead lesbians, and neither Jaret nor Peggy "goes back to being straight".
And so what if happy endings didn't exist? Happy moments did.
anachronistique's review
Definitely fascinating in its context as an early YA novel with a lesbian romance at the heart of it, but worth reading even beyond Historical Importance reasons. Jaret and Peggy are very believable teenagers, though the slang might have rung awkwardly even in 1978. What I didn't expect was the time the book spent with other characters - their parents, their siblings, their friends and community. And I feel like it's a good reminder that even in the ~dark ages~ of pre-21st-century America and social media there were gay people and they weren't all necessarily thrown out and shunned by their families. Horrible things happen, worse things happen, and just being a lesbian isn't the worst thing ever.
(If you're planning to pick it up, I will echo the other reviews that there is a graphically written rape and beating.)
(If you're planning to pick it up, I will echo the other reviews that there is a graphically written rape and beating.)
tangerineteeth's review against another edition
Read in October 2021: https://hollograms.blogspot.com/2021/11/books-read-in-october-2021.html