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kmhst25's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Passing Strange is what I like to call Wouldn’t It Be Nice literature. The author appears to have thought: wouldn’t it be nice to write a story about San Francisco in the 40s? A lesbian love story? Something with a little magic and chalk pastels?
The problem with Wouldn’t It Be Nice literature is that it doesn’t really go anywhere. The author’s not writing for the plot, but for the happy little ideas they had in their head. It falls flat, because the author is too busy telling you about their pet loves to tell you a full fledged story.
This is half a story that I think you’re only really going to enjoy if you also happen to fall in love with the author’s pet loves and aren’t particularly looking for a plot.
The problem with Wouldn’t It Be Nice literature is that it doesn’t really go anywhere. The author’s not writing for the plot, but for the happy little ideas they had in their head. It falls flat, because the author is too busy telling you about their pet loves to tell you a full fledged story.
This is half a story that I think you’re only really going to enjoy if you also happen to fall in love with the author’s pet loves and aren’t particularly looking for a plot.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Car accident
sapphicbloom's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
If you liked Last Night at the Telegraph Club and like magical realism - you're going to love this book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual assault
sallysimply's review against another edition
2.0
Sadly, this book did not really work for me. The very beginning totally sucked me in, and I liked the magical bits. But for a book where magic ends up being so central to what happened, there was almost no magic and what magic there was felt super rushed. The way the characters communicate was perplexing to me and didn't feel at all natural (especially the scene where Haskel explains her background to Emily). I also found the story itself meandering, and not in the way I sometimes like. And I NEVER got over "uno momento," which is incorrect Spanish unless there is some strange 1940s exception that I am unaware of. Sidenote, why is Diego Rivera even in this book?
I contemplated DNFing it at multiple points (which is almost impressive, considering how short it is). With just the last long chapter left, I skipped to the final chapter to see how it ends and see if it was worth finishing. It was intriguing enough for me to then go back to the long chapter and finish it up. That was definitely the most interesting part of the entire book, besides the opening section.
So, the beginning and the end get this up to 2 stars for me.
I contemplated DNFing it at multiple points (which is almost impressive, considering how short it is). With just the last long chapter left, I skipped to the final chapter to see how it ends and see if it was worth finishing. It was intriguing enough for me to then go back to the long chapter and finish it up. That was definitely the most interesting part of the entire book, besides the opening section.
So, the beginning and the end get this up to 2 stars for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Police brutality
Minor: Misogyny