Thank you to NetGalley / henry holt for the arc!!

This book was one that I started off liking at first but fell very flat for me towards the end, as it had tons of loose ends and plot points I wish were tied up more. As a queer person, I loved how represented I felt within the pages and unlike a lot of other LGBT books that felt catered to straight people rather than people in the community. I would recommend this book to queer people if they are looking for representation on pages; I would also love for this to be turned into a movie or show, as a lot of LGBT films are again catered towards straight people; it is nice to have a good representation on both page and screen

thank u netgalley / henry holt for the arc !

i really wanted to love this one and i'm sad that i didn't. it started out v strong for me and just weakened as i went. i def loved it at first, couldn't put it down. loved the dynamics among the friend group, the character development and details (everyone felt real and layered), the social media/influencer elements. i also liked the exploration of intimacy, performative happiness/togetherness, jealousy, desire, et al... the idea of a queer friend trip for the holidays seemed full of potential for messiness & fun but i felt like the potential was never fully reached & i was left wanting so much moreeeee from it. i also felt like it could've been more refined tbh, there was a lot of repetition and long-winded descriptions about things that didn't particularly matter to me (every detail of their outfits, several times, for example). i reckon i'm at 3.5 stars for this, rounded down for the sake of the review.

i would still prolly recommend it, depending on who asks, i think its strong as a piece of queer literature that entertains as well as educates re: queer people/relationships & the many ways they look. it was funny, self-aware & sometimes thought-provoking. i'm curious to hear what others think of it!

here's a quote i liked:

'she wondered why, after a whole year with jesse, she still tried to maintain the illusion that her breasts were not, in fact, the way they were, which was - and there was no doubting this - the exact way jesse had always seen them. there was nowhere to hide, no ledge to climb upon.'

DYKETTE by Jenny Fran Davis offers an original premise and a tantalizing setup. With three queer couples together for the holidays, what could possibly go wrong? The various couple dynamics paired with the different personalities creates a rich pot of drama. The group swings from delighting in each other ("Italian Christmas") to dwelling in tension (no spoilers!).

Where DYKETTE falls short of its premise (and promise) is in character development. Sasha is very unlikeable, which makes for a fabulous narrator; she provides some tasty, side-eyed commentary. What's never clear is how she really feels about Jesse. It's also unclear why either of them are still in the relationship. If that had been made clear--at some point--their actions would have had more impact and it would have made the stakes feel much higher. Also, it was never clear why Jules and Miranda invited four younger queer people to stay with them over the holidays and for such a long period of time. Was there sexual tension? A few times. Did that seem to be why Jules and Miranda invited Sasha and Jesse? No.

If there had been sharper relationship dynamics and more character development--especially with Darcy and Lou, who were both rather one-note--DYKETTE would have been a stellar novel. As it is, I found it disappointing with the great premise fizzling out rather than leaving me, as a reader, feeling as messy and put-through-the-ringer as the characters in the book.

well!!! what a wacky book... i am going to sit with it a little bit, but overall i liked it because i like weird books, and the writing is good and interesting, and the book talks very frankly and thoughtfully (and in a silly way in some instances) about queer desire, desire in general, and the performative aspects of romantic relationships/gender... it's a lot! but funny and shocking and compelling if you're into that kind of thing

‘Viviennewoke before Sasha and Jesse. Her need to pee wasn’t super urgent, so she nestled with her back against Sasha,s stomach (though in general she preferred to be big spoon…)’

This novel is written in one semicolorful declarative sentence after another and there is honestly something appealing about the pah-pah-pah rhythm set up by this kind of prose, like the appeal of reading something written by a teenager who draws little hearts above the i’s instead of a dot, and although I found the story pointless and shallow maybe it’s purposefully pointless and shallow, like those pop art Campbell soup cans that were already passé the first time you saw one, and although this novel is not as interesting as the arrangement of old chewing gums you happen to notice on s sidewalk as you’re walking along, it almost is.

Dykette is one of those novels that’s supposed to be good if not revelatory, a sort of modern manifesto on lesbianism, queerness and all. An insightful incisive look at gender, sexual orientation, etc. Graphic, visceral, splayed before readers, poised and primed to stun with its in-your-face, no holds barred narrative.
And yet…
Kinda hated it. Sorry. Tried as I might, it just didn’t work for me. The novel’s overt frankness seemed almost strategically manipulative and the emotional engagement just wasn’t there at all. Didn’t like any of the characters, not even remotely. Didn’t care for their lives, affairs, endless b*ching and moaning. Didn’t find any of them interesting.
It’s frustrating, really, because the novel is rather well written, but it doesn’t matter how meticulously and eloquently one might describe their characters’ emotional states if the reader doesn’t care about those characters.
The novel is essentially a tale of three lesbian couples of varied queerness who get together at the fancy end of Long Island for an extended Christmas vacation. And it is about as compelling as third-wheeling to a party you don’t care for.
It’s meant to be funny according to the description. Really? I mean, the cover is, sure. The cover is great. The rest, though…
Yey for increasing representation. Yey for effort? But the execution leaves a lot to be desired, resulting in a disappointing read. Thanks Netgalley.

My little dykette heart is bursting after this book. I think the theme of performance was so smart and well done through all the elements of this book, down to butch/femme dynamics. I feel as if that's been 'out of fashion' in current queer literature, and it was refreshing to see it played out along with things like brand names and internet performativity. The greatest strength of this book is its disinterest to explain itself to cis hetero audiences. All the characters felt so imperfectly alive to me, and very distinct. So even though we were introduced to 6 main characters at once, it did not feel overwhelming, and you get a good idea of each of their interpersonal dynamics, intercouple dynamics, and group dynamic perfectly.. Davis has such a mesmerizing way with words where she's able to condense her thoughts down so clearly into a short passage. She has a gift of picking just the right words and descriptors while still hinting at the thing she's trying to say. I kept screenshotting parts of this book to show my friends.

As far as further editing goes, I noticed some grammatical errors, misspellings, and Jesse being gendered as she/him, sometimes multiple times in the same passage in this version. I can't wait to see this when it comes out.

i was so invested in this book. the characters felt so real and awful and honest. i don’t have much to add i feel like i can’t explain it but it is definitely worth a read
i did have a question- does sasha misgender jesse on purpose or is it a copy error?

Dykette touched on subject matter relevant to the sapphic community like how butch/femme dynamics differ across generations and relationship dynamics both platonic and romantic between sapphics. I do not feel like many conclusions were reached though, and at times the novel was a bit graphic for my tastes.

There are many 'queer' novels out these days that entice a reader with promises of portraying a realistic gay millennial experience. And many flop. But not Dykette!!!! Reading this was like looking in a mirror, drinking a cold drink, getting dressed up for a night out with a friend, etc. Critical, funny, and centered on a narrative rarely seen in contemporary literature (the High Femme Experience) this was a book I consumed in a day because I couldn't put it down. The protagonist, Sasha, is charming, unlikable, hilarious, and uncomfortably relatable. This novel brings us into the underbelly of the resentments and jealousies that can brew in all of us, especially when we exist in microscopic social scenes. Would highly recommend for fans of Andrea Lawlor, Eileen Myles, and Brontez Purnell.

What an original story! I couldn’t wait to read it and I wasn’t disappointed. The characterization was brilliant..

This was a fun and exciting novel to read through and it contains quite a bit of information about how queer people, specifically lesbians, live their lives in their ideas of ‘normal’. The main character, Sasha, spends time upstate with their boyfriend, Jesse, and some of their semi close lesbian friends. As the holiday time away progresses, tensions rise and the kittycats come out to play, literally. This was a deep dive into the framework of relationships and just how close one can be pushed to their limit before they explode.

I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style of this book. The author has a unique way of describing scenarios or personalities and they were not afraid to portray the ‘evil’ characteristics that we all secretly harbor. The characters themselves were interesting to watch and analyze, each one setting the tone for that generation of ‘lesbian’.

There are quite a few scenes where the focus jumps back to the past, and while these were interesting and quite additive to the overall current story, the transition between past and present was murky and I found myself a lot of the time re-reading sections because I could not decipher if this was taking place in the past or present.

(TW: bodily harm, abuse, explicit sexual activity)