Jack 💜 reviewed Rainbow Rainbow by Lydia Conklin
It’s OK
2 stars
2.5. Conklin’s writing is tight and impressive, but man. Most of these stories felt uncomfortable and spiteful for the sake of it.
There are some major standouts. “Pioneer” and “Sunny Talks” were my favorites, with an emphasis on the latter for being a sympathetic look at the gap of understanding between younger/older queer culture and expectations.
The elephant in the room is that so many of these stories involve heavy themes of child sexual assault that are touched upon, but don’t really seem to say anything other than be there as depressing shock value. Maybe I’m just not the right audience, but those stories (the majority of them, really) just didn’t click with me at all.
Not a big fan of two separate transmasc characters forgoing HRT because of worries about increased aggression, baldness, cancer, etc. Characters are characters, and they can have their own motivations, but it feels a …
2.5. Conklin’s writing is tight and impressive, but man. Most of these stories felt uncomfortable and spiteful for the sake of it.
There are some major standouts. “Pioneer” and “Sunny Talks” were my favorites, with an emphasis on the latter for being a sympathetic look at the gap of understanding between younger/older queer culture and expectations.
The elephant in the room is that so many of these stories involve heavy themes of child sexual assault that are touched upon, but don’t really seem to say anything other than be there as depressing shock value. Maybe I’m just not the right audience, but those stories (the majority of them, really) just didn’t click with me at all.
Not a big fan of two separate transmasc characters forgoing HRT because of worries about increased aggression, baldness, cancer, etc. Characters are characters, and they can have their own motivations, but it feels a little gross to have those characters parrot off the usual fear-mongering concerns about testosterone and just leave it there. Doesn’t help that the one story about a trans man on HRT involves him getting involved with a chaser.
Overall, I leave this with a bad taste in my mouth, as well as remorse for not liking the food when it was cooked so well.
