DNF at 30%

Unfortunately I was just not enjoying this at all. I didn’t find any of the characters sympathetic or likeable and not even interesting enough for me to continue despite them being unlikeable. There was such an emphasis on image and lists of specific products that I didn’t understand the point of.

I have tried multiple times to read this. I cannot get into it. I am one who loves literary fiction and all it entails but nothing can get me through the second half of this book.

This book did a great job at exploring queer themes and relationships that I don't feel like are shown very often in media outside of online discourses. For that reason I would def recommend! My only critique (and it's personal) is that by the end, I felt that I was able to easily move onto my next read. For whatever reason, I just didn't click with the characters/story in a way that felt like a long-lasting impact. Though overall, still a great and quick read.

I had a hard time getting into this book. I think that for another reader, this would be very enjoyable. I would recommend it to fans of Sloane Crosley. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I didn't finish it. There was a pretentiousness about the characters that I couldn't get past. Again, though, I think for a different reader who really enjoys literary fiction and books about intellectuals who present themselves primarily as cultured intellectuals, this book could be very appealing.

This is how and unreliable narrator should be done - so fully projecting her own insecurities while wildly aware of how absurd she is being. Though the narrative was a bit disjointed and jumpy in the timeline and points of view throughout, it all comes together in a very thought-provoking way.

Dykette is a raw and unfiltered examination of queer relationships, jealousy, and sexuality. The story follows Sasha and her partner Jesse as they embark on a ten-day getaway with two other queer couples to a house in upstate New York for the holidays.

I really enjoyed the first two thirds of this novel. I was excited to see an honest portrayal and examination of the butch/femme dynamic and the study of the femme lesbian identity. I appreciated the diverse cast of queer characters, including nonbinary and gender non-conforming lesbians. The generation gap between the two younger couples and their “queer elder” counterparts felt authentic and endearing.

Where Dykette falters is the third act, which kicks off with a performance art piece that felt uncomfortable and out of place. While I understand that the intention of this scene is to be uncomfortable, it often felt like shock value just for the sake of shock value. In a way, the entire novel feels like performance art, but in a way that is disconnected and at times unsure of itself. I am also not a huge fan of the unlikeable and unreliable narrator trope, and boy was Sasha unlikeable.

I have a feeling that this novel will be divisive amongst queer readers, and I’m interested to see more reviews when it’s published on May 16. Thank you to @netgalley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC!

Dykette delightfully portrays modern butch and femme dynamics. The whole story is messy, crude, and queer in a way that will make you feel scrutinized. I loved the inclusion and visibility of gender non-conforming lesbians, and I found the interactions between different queer characters incredibly familiar and accurate. The exploration of generational differences along with femme and butch identities was so well done! However, there were times I found plot elements pointless in the flow of the story. The thoughts of our protagonist Sasha didn't entirely align with her behavior, and she put me off several times throughout the story.

A painfully Zillennial novel that you really don’t want to relate to, but cannot help it. THIS is how and unreliable narrator should be done - so unabashedly projecting her own insecurities while wildly aware of how absurd she is being. Though the narrative was a bit disjointed and jumpy in its timeline and points of view, it all comes together in a very thought-provoking exposé of my own queer insecurities and desires.

I loved this. I really connected with the inner monologue, and fully believe this weird, lesbian fiction novel is inspired. The narration represents things I think a lot of women want to say but don't, and I like that it's out in the open.

This book was well-written but not to my personal tastes. I would have preferred for there to be more plot. Otherwise, I have a hard time being completely objective in my review for this book in particular because it was just very much not enjoyable for me due to my personal tastes.

Dykette offers a particular vision of the 20something urban dyke milieu that you'll only be keyed into if you live in Brooklyn or went to a ritzy women's college, as well as a semi successful mediation on self-sabotage in relationships. It's probably 2023's Detransition, Baby, but, crucially, lacks the multiple POVs that allows each of Torrey Peters' characters to justify themselves in turn. Being limited to Sasha's perspective turns the reading experience into a long slog of mediating on how terrible all of these people are to each other, with no relief of their own internal monologues (except once when you get Vivienne the pug's perspective, oddly). It does deliver on being a "weird" (read: non appealing to straight people) book where so many fail. & I'll absolutely be sending snippets of it to my bff from college to laugh about how annoying our culture is!

Do you like your literary fiction wildly messy and deeply queer? Do you like bizarre and complicated personal entanglements? Do you like fascinating commentary on queer femininity? Then you might like DYKETTE!

This book centers around three queer couples from New York, who are spending Christmas at the house of the oldest couple; it’s told from the POV of Sasha, one-half of the youngest couple. When her partner Jesse collaborates with Darcy (whom Sasha is a little jealous of) on a strange live-streamed performance art piece, existing tensions quickly snowball into an even bigger mess.

I think this book is objectively quite good, but my own subjective opinion about it is a little more mixed. I loved the queer drama, and the absolutely stellar atmosphere that the author created: the book was extremely engaging, and frankly more suspenseful than a number of thrillers I’ve read. (I read most of it in a single night.) I’m still thinking about the commentary on queer femininity, which was in my opinion the highlight of the book. On the other hand, many of the characters were frustratingly unsympathetic, and the plot wandered a bit down some digressions that didn’t feel like they added much to either the atmosphere or actual happenings of the story.

I’ll also say that if you are not an urban-dwelling lesbian who’s into butch/femme dynamics, this can sometimes feel more like an anthropological exercise than “representation.” (And fwiw, I think that’s a good thing, and was something I liked about the book: the queer experience is by no means universal, and I think it’s good to get a window into those experiences which are not our own!)

All in all: I definitely do think this is worth a read, and I’d recommend it especially to people who like super messy lit fic, a diversity of queer experience, and all the weird stuff that comes along with it. Thanks so much to Netgalley and Henry Holt Books for the advance copy!

The run-on sentences were... a choice. A heavily repeated choice that an editor should've taken care of. From the opening paragraph, it was difficult to follow. It made most of the book annoyingly unreadable. I hate saying anything bad about this book because it was my most anticipated read of the year. Lesbian/sapphic representation is what I'm constantly CRAVING. With a lack of our representation in publishing, outside of the occasional YA and erotica, this sounded like my next favorite book. The premise was interesting, but the execution was bland. The characters were extremely unlikeable. I LOVE a book where I can hate all the characters! But they weren't just characters you hate, they were pests. Unfortunately, this wasn't for me. I'm still going to rate it 3 stars because of the unapologetic queerness.

I'm torn on this one. As a lesbian, I liked the representation, obviously; however, the ending fell flat for me and knocked a whole star off the rating. I enjoyed the development of the characters, their imperfections, and relationships among the group, but the resolution of the story felt messy and I really finished the book feeling like I was missing something. I would still recommend the book, the representation was great, and I appreciated the insight the author illustrated, but I just feel like I'm missing something.

Relationships can be clumsy, no matter the genders involved. This delightful novel takes us into the lives of three couples grappling with each other and themselves in the race towards ‘whose relationship/ self image is superior ‘ game. While the three couples share similarities, queer relationships and major cases of masked self loathing, they are all three in various stages of development both as couples and individuals. There were moments this book had me in tears from laughter, and others where the naval gazing got to be too much. I highly recommend this book for anyone whose compared their own relationship to their couple friend. Well worth the read.

Ugh. Such a disappointment. I really wanted to like this novel. I love the title, the cover, and the overall plot. Unfortunately, the characters were absolutely dreadful and childish. So much jealousy and insecurity from these 6 characters. The main character, Sasha was a total train wreck. I disliked everything about her. She had no redeeming qualities. She acted like a teenager instead of an adult woman. I thought the writing was pretty decent, but it was hard to continue when you want to punch the characters every chapter. THIS. BOOK. WAS. NOT. GOOD.

Thank you, Netgalley and Henry Holt for the digital ARC.

DNF 30%
I wanted to like this so bad because that title is just so great. There was so much detail about the most mundane things. It reminded me of classics but descriptive of model things/references and a bunch of name brand items. Our narrator was constantly detailing what everyone was wearing anytime they changed clothes. I think older queer people will like this the most. There’s so much I don’t fully comprehend because I didn’t experience that era. But that also the reason why I wanted to keep reading. I’m very into butch-femme dynamics. This book has helped me learn more about that. I did appreciate the famous queer name dropping as I did know a lot of those referenced. I like the insight as to what queer people think of them. I liked the use of he/him for the butch and high femme status for our narrator.

I wanted to like 'Dykette' so much, but it was terrible. The only reason I didn't put it down is because I feel bad when I DNF ARCs. The story follows three lesbian couples (one established and older, one new and young, and one young but not super new) as they spend several days in the older couple's home in Hudson, NY.

There is a ton of jealous and projecting and lying, and it was exhausting. There was nothing to even it out, so it was just a straight tone of 'ugh.' None of the characters were likable, but the main character we follow, Sasha, is one of the most unlikable characters I've ever read. She's unable to communicate, selfish and jealous. The fact that we have an unreliable narrator is one of the more interesting things, but you have to get through it first to reflect on that. I do like how Davis played with expectations and reality, projection and truth, lust and love, and contradictions in art and life. And there were a few lines beautiful enough to save.

I can see a lot of people still liking this book, if they like reading about difficult (found) family dynamics, reflections on various lesbian lives or more character studies, but I'd say if you don't like it within 25, maybe 50 pages, just put it down.

2.5/5
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Advance copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. </i>

I was completely taken for a ride by Dykette, and I loved every page of it! It's a very original and captivating book that juggles humor and intelligence. The fact that this work feels like it was written for queer readers and doesn't avoid discussing more complex aspects of queer identity and culture most impressed me. It's uncommon to see a he/him butch in traditional publishing, but it works so well here. The examinations of kink, sex, and consent were fascinating, and I especially enjoyed seeing how closely social media and being "canceled" online manifested itself in two generations of gay people in various contexts. By the conclusion of the book, I thought some plot aspects had fallen flat (I kept expecting Miranda's "bad" patient to pop up in some way), but I didn't think this diminished the overall quality of the writing. I heartily endorse this book and eagerly await the publication of more queer tales that aren't dominated by the cis-hetero lens.

I had a blast reading Dykette - I laughed, I cringed and tensed, I feared for the constantly-imperiled black pug. I am impressed that I felt this way even as I disliked or hated pretty much all of the characters, including our main POV character, Sasha, whose “High Femme Camp Antics” seemed more like anxious attachment style/cruelty/pure manipulation.

The novel follows grad student Sasha and her partner Jesse as they spend the holidays with another queer couple—Jesse’s best friend Lou and their new girlfriend, artsy influencer Darcy—hosted by an elder queer couple—blue-check liberal-news celesbian Jules and combination therapist/podcaster Miranda. Tension and messiness abound.

It’s pretty evident that much of the book sprouted out of Jenny Fran Davis’s personal essays, which I enjoyed about reading this. Dykette is full of snippets of theory, pop-culture quotations, and Sasha’s own formulations about romance, relationships, queerness, sex, and self.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the opportunity to review a digital ARC.