Customer Reviews

Choices

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This story is a great account of every emotion and stage a woman goes through when realizing her sexual identity and how she must deal with the choices she makes with this discovery. Very well written and emotionally engaging.

this story pulls you through the ultimate joys of being in love, the devastation of betrayel, the passion of true intimacy, and every other imaginable emotion; as the main character experiences her own coming-of-age.. if ever there has been a novel that drags you to want to read it, every second of the day; and shows the undeniable beauty in lesbian love, this is it.. it's a work of art..

I tried. I REALLY tried. However, I just couldn't get into this book. Sandy and Jenny slowly fall in love and have great college sex. Sandy is ready and willing to accept herself as a lesbian. However, Jenny refuses to come out to anyone but Sandy. When they are older and meet again, Jenny feels differently, but Sandy is scared of being hurt again. The book is verbose and the story drags. The print is small and the sentences are long. Although the premise of the story is good, I would not recommend this book to any of my friends.

I have to agree with one reviewer who said she couldn't get into this book. For good reason: this story is unrelenting drudgery to read. It is formulaic and lacks any humor whatsoever. It reads more like a textbook (a dull one at that) on stereotypes of the women's movement and a very parochial view of lesbian culture. I found the author's constant stereotyping of her characters' "Jewish" features to be irritating and tedious. One of the hallmarks of good and certainly great literature is that its characters transcend race, religion and historical period.

I wouldn't usually be this highly critical of a book from a minor author, but the endorsements on the back of the book from well known lesbian sources compared Toder to Rita Mae Brown and the book to "Rubyfruit Jungle." Even taken with a grain of salt, these promotional reviews lead to high expectations and are not warranted in this case. If I were Rita Mae Brown I would consider a libel suit for the comparisons. This book isn't even in the same league. (To give her credit, Jane Rule says accurately of the book, "Nearly every question about lesbian identity is raised and considered at length." I would say- considered ad nauseum.)

Interestingly, this book is offered on Amazon.com in conjunction with another novel, "Shoulders" by Georgia Cotrell. This is also an author with whom I was not previously familiar and I don't know if she's written anything else. Cotrell's book has no endorsements on the cover, but it is her book that reminds one of the style of "Rubyfruit Jungle" in its own modest way. It also covers the coming out years and loves and losses of a group of lesbian friends, but it does so with great humor and without preaching to the reader. I found it a delightful surprise and highly recommend it to readers.

If you're looking for books with lesbian characters who are fully human and attain the level of literature, read any of the highly praised Kate Martinelli series by Laurie R. King. Although the author is not a lesbian she creates visceral lesbian characters to whom we can all relate and who rise above the trite stereotypes to which gays are too often subjected-even by lesbian writers.

My choice would be to pass on this dreary book.

I purchased this book when it was first published.
Not from Amazon, which wasn't born yet.

The selection of good Lesbian books was slim then.

I really enjoyed this book. It spoke about a different time
written in a different time.

One of the reviewers is upset about the comparison of this book to 'RubyFruit Jungle'.
Well let me say - I never really liked Rubyfruit. That wasn't what turned me 'off'

I know that review for Choices was a long time ago - but it shouldn't stop anyone from buying 'Choices'

Choices talks about what it was like growing up Jewish and the hardships of realizing you are a Lesbian.
You hate your roommate fight with her and think she's a JAP(jewish american princess) but something happens
and you get these 'feelings'...

I could relate and really enjoy this book

I absolutely LOVED this book! It was so well written and so unpredictable that I had to stay up all night to finish it. This book has many things going for it, such as a substantial story line, interesting and thoroughly explored characters, and a surprise ending. I also liked how long this book was, usually these types of books are only a few hundred pages in large print. Definitely get this book, you wont regret it!