A review by hmatt
Girls Can Kiss Now by Jill Gutowitz
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Outing, Sexual assault, and Rape
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Homophobia
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.