Reviews with content warning for Antisemitism - Yakut Orman

Sometimes ‘classics’ don’t need a resurgence and I’m wondering why both LGBTQ classics I’ve read this year are also full of racism/antisemitism/inner misogyny?

The amount of times the N word was used as well as the many antisemitic comments are disgusting. Since the author added an authors note for this rerelease, I wish she would’ve addressed that.

Content Warnings

kaitlinlovesbooks's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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erinwolf1997's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-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

4.5

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fr0gsonmushrooms's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Ruby Fruit Jungle started off strong. Actually, I loved the first 50%, but after that it kinda started going downhill. There were a few problems mainly in the last part that definitely made me take a few stars off.

Don’t get me wrong the book was very well written and I loved the way Rita portrayed Molly’s thoughts. I even read it in four days (although I was literally doing nothing for those four days). However, I can’t give this book much of a higher rating because of everything that went wrong in the end.

Pros:
1. Fast paced so it was able to keep my attention and was a quick read. I struggle with books keeping my attention and due to the very quick pace of this book, I was able to get through it quickly.
2. I like how the main moral is not to give up and to push to do the things you want to do. Molly never cared what anyone thought and worked her ass off to get into college and eventually graduate. Even with all her challenges, she pushed her way through now only as a woman, but a queer woman.

Now the cons: (some spoilers)
1. Around page 132, Molly shit talks butch lesbians saying they are stupid and ugly. When I was reading it, I had to stop and take a second to be like “wow she really just did that.”
2. There was A LOT OF antisemitism. Not just once or twice but sprinkled all throughout the book. At first, I was just like eh, as a Jewish person it’s the basic stereotypes, but it just got worse.
3. In the fourth part of the book Molly rapes Polina. And they just play it off as an ok thing to happen. Molly force kisses her and then forces her on the bed. She admits it and says it’s fine because "she’s drunk and knows she knows she wants it" They did end up together for a short while but it’s still not ok.
4. They just casually mention incest being ok and normal?! About pages 187-188, Molly and Alice have a whole conversation about how Alice wants to sleep with her mom and thinks her mom wants to sleep with her too. Then Molly just agrees with her.

All those moments concerned me. So overall, the book was okay, but I wouldn’t recommend it and it’s definitely not in my tops.

I'm leaving my review as a 2.75 for now, but I think it's maybe because my patner gave it to me. Therefore, I really want to love it as much as I did when I started it, but the cons are really just not okay. Maybe after I think about this book for longer the star review will change.

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adevos's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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piastri's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No

2.25

i see how this book became a cult classic, but it is very much a product of its time and i don’t think has withstood that test.
it’s an interesting exploration of queer experiences and sexuality, but the line of taboo is very blurred and that doesn’t work in the book’s favour. with the adult/minor relationships, incest being encouraged, sexual assault perpetrated by the main character, racism and antisemitism, and the butch-phobia, it’s a lot to stomach that i’m not really sure is worth the read.

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oddreads_nicolestins's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would!

No spoilers here, but it's more than just a coming-of-age story. I loved so many of the characters, but I hurt with them too. I laughed with them and I almost cried.

Highly recommend for all those who are curious and for all my southern allies/country-folk allies, LGBTQIA+, or otherwise.

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hubes's review against another edition

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fast-paced

4.0

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