Kim Deister
Written on Apr 24, 2014
The story was told in the alternating points of view of our two main characters, Clarissa and Lexie. These are two girls that couldn't be more different. Clarissa is the epitome of a middle-class girl, into horses and her friends, not really considering much beyond her own life. She spends a lot of her time looking out for her older sister, Desi, who has Down's Syndrome and is one of my favorite supporting characters. Lexie is straight-edge punk, ready to save the world, although she has a secret and unexpected love for butterflies. Clarissa seems to be a bit on the immature side quite sheltered. Lexie, although she comes from a wealthy family, is a bit of a rebel, sometimes even a little pretentious about her rebelliousness against the establishment. As characters, I love them both.
It's the sexuality aspect and how it was presented that bothered me. The way in which Clarissa came out seemed so lackluster. One minute she is gossiping with her friends, the next... she's bisexual. It was undeniable once I thought about it. I was drawn to girls the same way I was drawn to guys (Loc. 111). And there it was. She spent the rest of the story announcing it. It just didn't come across as authentic to me, probably because of the naiveté she often showed. It sometimes made her same rather shallow.
And then there is Lexie, whom I loved as a person. But I felt that at times she was almost a caricature of a "lesbian," a stereotype. Vegan, activist, punk rock, activist, social outcast. There are nothing wrong with these things, just that, right or wrong, they have become associated with the social definition of a lesbian. It just felt like Lexie's character fed into a stereotype rather than a true person.
The story line was excellent, however. There were some real issues and conflict that had nothing to do with the sexuality aspect, sometimes rather deep. There were some clear statements on family dynamics, both through the relationship between Lexie and her parents and Clarissa's with her own parents. These are things that I think most all of us have dealt with at one time or another. I also love that Desi was created to be a real person, not as an aside in light of her cognitive issues. Fantastic!
Some Quotastic Goodness
--Now, the name gay-straight alliance implies it's a club for gay and straight students, but actually that's just a name! Ot's also open to lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students. I'm not sure what transgender is yet, but I found a website that's going to explain it to me (Loc.219). -- Uh, what?!
--Did lesbians have to be unfriendly (Loc. 334)? -- The stereotyping...
--I felt like I was about to crack, that I couldn't endure one more thing going wrong in my life (Loc. 1645).
--You're sweeping me off your feet with your rhetoric, comrade (Loc. 2112).
My Recommendation: I had issues, yes, but aside from that, I enjoyed the story that was the root of it. I think that YA fiction needs more LBGTQ characters! I gave it 3.5 mugs.
My review originally appeared on my blog, http://thecaffeinateddivareads.multifacetedmama.com/?p=8771.
