Honestly, I had a lot of high hopes for this one. The synopsis seemed dynamic and I love an opportunity to explore an LGBTQ+ story for characters over the age of 40 so I was ready to have a good time. Unfortunately, I just didn't. The writing style was difficult to engage with, there was a lack of build-up and back story between characters, and frankly literally all of the men in this book were problematic in a way that felt incongruent.

The story moves from isolated, hiding lesbians to a Caravan of Queers, traveling openly to a new future. Down with the patriarchy!

I read this in one sitting because I could not put it down. I cried and laughed and cursed and ultimately filled with joy. Great book.

First I would like to say I love that we are starting to see more representation in LGBTQ+ books. Seeing the different responses to members of the LGBTQ+ community through the past of the manuscript and the present was an interesting way to show the story. The message of the story was good however the writing style was personally not for me. I felt that some of the writing came across as choppy and that some of the character l relationships was lacking which made it a bit difficult to read. I would still recommend the book to others to read as it’s just a personal issue with the writing style.

"Children know just when to throw a dagger, and they rarely miss. Grandkids, on the other hand, can be lifesavers.”

📚 Synopsis: At first look, Taylor Baird is an unassuming grandmother and substitute teacher in the small town of Clear, Alaska. But she is also the author of lesbian novels, writing under the pen name of her best friend (and lover) from college. The Queering follows Taylor and one of her students, Grace, as well as a cast of other characters, as they learn about Taylor's past, what happened to Brooke, and the very real consequences of it all coming back to life.

✏️ Review: This book has everything! Grandmas! Lesbians! Lesbian grandmas! It's a story of the difficulties of being queer in the past AND the present and of the hate that shapes our world, but it is ultimately a story of how love and acceptance triumph over all. I loved the juxtaposition between Taylor and Grace, and how their lives overlap and intertwine, and how they both make each others' lives better for having been a part of them. Even though this book deals with a lot of really tough themes, it does it in a way that makes the reader ultimately feel safe and loved, and I thought it was a really enjoyable read.

⚠️ CWs: homophobia, racism, sexism, lesbophobia, gay panic killing, violence, Covid denialism, death from Covid, murder, guns, addiction, child pornography, car accident

🌈 Representation: a plethora of lesbians :)

Final Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a novel that will leave you thinking about the frailties and complexities of our existence. It is exciting, terrifying, and heartbreaking, but ultimately it provides hope that love will win out.

This is a visceral tale of a complicated existence and acceptance of love, lust, and danger. It's bleak at times, occasionally funny, and unapologetically raw.

This novel pulls at your senses and demands your attention, even as it behaves in an alluringly crass and gross way. The Queering is not an easy book to read, but it is an extremely rewarding one. The novel also tackles race, class, gender, sexual assault, domestic abuse, religion, and the politics of the 45th and 46th presidencies. The politicizing of Covid is part of the narrative.

The Queering is full of twists and turns and a lesbian novel with endless backstabbing, revenge, and an agenda to educate cishet readers of the eggshells that LGBTQ+ people walk on every day.

Skipstone's novel will leave you thinking about family, independence and interdependence, gender, and sexuality. It's an addictive read with its trainwreck relationships—the kind you can't quite resist, about flawed main characters, and about the mistakes we all make when we are dumb and young.

This book was really hard to read. It's confusing trying to read something marked completely as fiction but the author and the main character have the same name. The character doesn't read as a 70 year old, despite how many times the book likes to remind us of that. I just simply couldn't get into it.
That being said I do like the concept, I just feel like it needed a little longer before it was ready. It's a lot of telling and no showing. It has potential, it's just not there yet

First, let me thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley itself for this ARC.

Now, let's get to the review itself.

I'll start with the topic this book thoroughly addresses and deals with, the unending oppression and aggression towards the LGBTQ+ community (in this case in North America). I consider it to be a topic worthy of thousands of written books as this is truly a subject one can never know too much about and should continue getting educated on. Therefore, I highly commend the author for taking on such an important and in many cases sensitive topic and opening a conversation about it.

In spite of that, I feel somehow unsure about its overall execution. Even though this book deals with such a diverse amount of identities and forms of self-expression the characters felt somehow monotone and without many unique character traits. At certain points in the book I even felt like the characters were based on stereotypes and not thought through that much. Therefore, I found it quite challenging to be able to properly relate to them in other ways than the most basic ones. I often felt annoyance and frustration in regards to their behaviour which is what I'd prefer to avoid in a book if possible.

When it comes to the plot itself, it definitely brings a whole new layer to the story as it doesn't sound like fiction at all. It appears as a plausible and very possibly recurring series of events that might ocurr in parts of the world such as America. It gives the story a certain disturbing effect, a feeling of uneasiness and a sense of dread towards the end of the book. In this instance such evoked feelings are to be applauded as the subject is meant to be treated as it is in the real world, with no filter and give the reader a closer look into the issue.

Overall, I have to give this book solely two stars as if compared to other literary works dealing with the same (or similar) matter, this one wouldn't fall under the ones I'd recommend to fellow bookworms and from my point of view it's qualities are outweighed by its shortcomings.

I loved this! It was fun. It was thrilling. Once I got about halfway through it was difficult to put down. I loved how two women in their 70s weren't written off as out-of-touch boomers who mocked modern queerness. It's something that always happens on the rare chance we do see elder queers. Most of the elder queers in my life are up-to-date and far more kind and accepting than people assume, so that was really cool to see! Just because they were born a certain year doesn't mean that's where their morals and views are stuck, you know? Most of our modern views of sexuality and gender came from revolutionary queers from that era and many years before that, we've just changed some of the wording to be more inclusive.

The only minor issue I had was how unrealistic some of the dialogue was. I don't want to say it was "preachy", not in a bad way at least, but it was like "what's the most on the nose thing we can possibly say to make sure the reader knows everyone is super socially aware and unproblematic" that was just weird at times and didn't really fit into what was going on? None of it was bad at all. The messaging is educational, but still unrealistic at times. I also thought it was odd how sexual Grace and Maddi were. It was like they couldn't do or say anything without them making it sexual. Which wasn't bad necessarily, especially since they're young, but it was like damn, can they do something other than fuck with Gram in the next room lol. But I also liked how unapologetic they were about their love and how accepting Stephanie was about it. If I could have added one minor thing to it I'd add a nonbinary side character. There was some discussion on how gender isn't just male and female, so having one of the later characters being nonbinary would've been cool to see. It's not the end of the world that they're not there, just would've been a cool addition.

I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but I think the author did a good job of implementing "not all men" into the larger narrative. I already know people are going to read this and think "it's about a bunch of man-hating lesbians!" and "The only men in this book are bad and evil!" to which she can reply "not all men"

content warnings:
addiction (in the past)
book bans (due to homophobia)
conspiracy theories (relating to antisemitism, Black Lives Matter, covid, 'the gay agenda, and immigration)
covid death (in the past)
death of a child (in the past, the adult child of the main character who was an addict)
death of a lesbian (in the past)
death of a parent (in the past)
drugs (in the past)
guns (used in fights against queer characters as well as by queer characters)
homophobia (beliefs, slurs, murder of a queer woman)
multiple murders
nazism
overdose (in the past)
ped0s (a minor is recorded without consent)
racism (not a main talking point, but present when referring to the antagonist)
sexual assault (groping)
stalker
white supremacy.
The main antagonist is a white supremacist talk show host similar to Alex Jones and Joe Rogan. His bigotry is very present on the page. While it's called out by the characters and shown as not being okay at all, he has a lot of influence on their small town and several characters support him. His beliefs can be triggering, especially if you are young and have a family member with similar beliefs.

Despite the subject matter, this was such a fun read! I'm definitely going to be buying it :)

Also, I love how Brooke Skipstone is a pseudonym in the book as well as in real life, and that the real-life author wrote the same books as Brooke in the book does. Very nice touch.

<b>This was painful to read. Absolutely agonising. I almost want to demand compensation.</b>

The whole book is dialogue; it would have been easier to read the story in a play format. I’m not even exaggerating. It’s not even well written dialogue. It’s bland and flat; every character is indistinguishable from the next. Think along the lines of “hello, lover. I haven’t seen you since your aunt tragically passed away that December, we had our affair” kind of bad. Even people recounting interactions - to other people - will quote VERBATIM!

There was a distinct black and white kind of stereotyping that made every single character either a saint or absolute scum of the Earth. No middle ground. I was <i> told</i> how to feel about everything. This person believes this; therefore they are good. Subtlety is a lost art. Queer characters can be complex; they don’t need sainthoods to be valued by the reader. In fact, it makes them unreachable.

Also, as a side note, what was with Shannon frothing over Grace and Maddie having sex? That’s weird. No Grandparent should describe that as a “hoot.” That brings me to the Levi/Grace subplot. Completely irrelevant and a waste of time. The stakes were definitely high enough.

Initially, I loved the metafictional aspect of the book. The author was literally inside the story. Was the story autobiographical? What is the author’s connection? Until it became promotional. Entire passages of the real Skipstone’s books were inserted, with characters gushing about how brilliant she is and the awards she’s won. Ick.

TL;DR: This is a forced book, that reads like a sermon. As someone who relates to the themes, not even I could swallow the preaching. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t match the amazing title and clever cover. A hard pass from me.

4/5

This was such an gripping story and a powerhouse of a book. I was not expecting to love it as much as I did. It hit on so many important issues and I think this is a book everyone should read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Skipstone Publishing for the ARC!

Another triumph from Brooke Skipstone, just as heartwarming and emotional as her previous work.
Thank you..

This story was a nice, straightforward story that showed a fun friendship between friends with an age gap. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but I thought it was still fun.

Thank you to NetGalley and Skipstone Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow! That was an emotional whirlwind. Although it took me a little while to get into it, once it started to pick up, I couldn't put it down. It had all my favorite elements of thrillers with the satisfaction of a happy ending. I do feel like it was a little too long, and I began to lose interest towards the end. There was also a decision Taylor made in regards to how she handled a situation with her grandchildren/son (I won't spoil it) that I didn't agree with, but other than that I loved it.

I can see The Queering being turned into a movie because of how cinematic the writing style is. I will definitely be recommending this book to all of my friends!

I’m not sure where to begin. This Luke had me on the edge of my seat from the beginning.
This story can be hard to read at times, but it is definitely worth it. You will shed some tears, you will laugh a little, upset sometimes, but overall just hopeful for a better future with that ending.

70 years old Taylor has lived her life in hiding, not being able to show her true self. When her past catches with her, she has no intentions to hide anymore. This is her story, a story full of love, pain, betrayal, murder and Hope.

I need to be honest here. I did not finish this book.

I was already confused when I started it because the character’s name & the author’s name was the same. Then the story felt a little forced. I did like how the book showed an older adult exploring their sexuality.

A very interesting book that uses our current politics to make its points. The prejudice that Brooke and Taylor endured in the early 70s is in so many ways still with us, especially now that the LGBTQ+ community is the subject of attack in many states. I found the story tragic, uplifting, and full of hope. As Shannon says, "No ladies here. Just kick-ass women assigned at birth." Amen.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for making a copy of this book available for review.

Many reviews mention the fast-paced, riveting nature of the plot and the unique characters. But there is so much more to this story. The idea of pairs is used extensively: past/present, B&T, Taylor/Shannon, Grace/Maddi, Laura/Paige. But also in settings. Taylor starts the story in a snow-covered house at the end of a long drive, isolated, away from everyone. She ends up in a house on a hill, visible to everyone.

Most importantly, she was entrapped and then became free. She is Taylor Baird and Brooke Skipstone.

Brooke was described as an intoxicating wolf early in the book. Shannon reveals her last name as Wolfe at the end.

It was fun to find the connections.

I’ll start by mentioning that I have read and enjoyed The Moonstone Girls by the same author, and I was intrigued by the idea of a meta story-within-a-story. Unfortunately, this one did not really work for me for a few reasons. First, the framing of the story jumped frequently between a few points of view in the present as well as the past (told through the manuscript). This made it hard to settle into the story and I didn’t feel like the writing was very engaging. I also got distracted by the frequent references to Brooke Skipstone’s other published work and felt like it pulled away from this book.
Second, this book has SO many content warnings. It has a lot of homophobic and transphobic violence, other cases of homophobia, child abuse, and more. Definitely not an uplifting read!
I would consider reading another novel by the author with a more typical structure, but this one wasn’t for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!