Customer Reviews

Jagged Dreams

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"There are many things I appreciate about C.C. Saint-Clair's work in general, including the luminous language and her ability to create remarkably visual scenes. But, in Jagged Dreams, her greatest contribution lies in the intelligent and sensitive handling of the issue of abuse for so many women. It has been said that one third of women experience some form of sexual abuse by the age of eighteen. Even if that is an overestimation (and I don't believe it is), this is an issue that impacts millions of lives in a way that is rarely acknowledged or appreciated. C.C. Saint-Clair's compassionate and moving portrayal of such women, whether they be permanently damaged or able to triumphantly rise above the experience, honors their truth and makes us all more aware of this terrible blight on our society."
Sue Kentlyn, Secretary G/L Welfare Association, Brisbane.

I'm posting this review because I really think many of you out there will enjoy this fresh lesbian romance.
Jagged Dreams deals with homophobia and incest, but it's really about love and commitment. It's also about lesbian love, lust and temptation. Though I've read all of C.C.'s novels, this is the first in which she also packs in a `whodunnit' kind of subplot.
Imagine, Tamara (totally luscious in Risking-me) lifeless, unconscious in a parking lot and Emilie (her lover) is the first to find her there. Gee, did I want to know who had aggressed gorgeous Tamara, or what! The need to know what had really happened had me turning pages all night.
What else works is that in this novel, as in most of her others, C.C. juxtaposes wonderfully sexy and poetic moments like that of Tamara (flashback) and Marielle in the vineyards of Bordeaux with vile abuses performed by males who have the emotional IQ of troglodytes. And it works.
The tenderness, the resilience, the gentleness of same sex love, friendship and comfort is big time stuff in Jagged Dreams.
If I haven't totally convinced you that J D is a great read, I guess you can always have a sneak read of the opening chapter off C.C.'s website at [local website]
Veronika Clayton

I just loved that book [bought it on ebay _ sorry].
I never thought I'd so get into the plot of this book. I went for the ride because of the info on the listing. The 'dark' moments are gripping and so visual and yet the tone is strong and clear.
And yeah ... I did eventually put the book down, but it was a while before I got the characters out of my head. Very intense. but very sexy too.

A great book to take on a holiday. Compact book/story. Lovely lesbian moments while you look out for the bad *guy*. Gentle and tender moments. Real nasty ones too, but it all goes in the blend. A lesbian classic.
jon

So what I like about this book is that it's got a diffeent feel to it. It's dyke already, it's sexy.
There's no detective and no murder. Yet a crime's been committed.
The prep is found out by the cute dykes themselves as they go about business as usual -under the circumstances.
And so that novel .. is like clean and fresh. But again it's confronting. It's a Break from the usual.(...)

I've posted this review in a couple of places because I really think many of you out there should enjoy this fresh lesbian romance.
Jagged Dreams deals with homophobia and incest, but it's really about love and commitment. It's also about lesbian love, lust and temptation. Though I've read all of C.C.'s novels, this is the first in which she also packs in a `whodunnit' kind of subplot.
Imagine, Tamara (totally luscious in Risking-me) lifeless, unconscious in a parking lot and Emilie (her lover) is the first to find her there. Gee, did I want to know who had aggressed gorgeous Tamara, or what! The need to know what had really happened had me turning pages late in the night.
What else works in this novel, as in most of her others, is the way C.C. juxtaposes wonderfully sexy and poetic moments like those of Tamara (flashback) and Marielle in the vineyards of Bordeaux with vile abuses performed by males who have the emotional IQ of troglodytes. And it works.
The tenderness, the resilience, the gentleness of same sex love, friendship and comfort is big time stuff in Jagged Dreams...

I found that novel interesting in many ways though I, initially, thought it odd that Saint-Clair should stray from what has, so far, worked so well for us, readers of ... romance.
A sigh of relief. The romance is there. It's all around the `Who Did Commit The Crime' hook.
In fact, I just love the often delicate but totally sexy loveplay between Tamara and Marielle back in the vineyards. I read this in the train and it certainly provided me with an escape from the dreary landscape.
Tonie Morris

Dear reader, hi!
I thought it might be kind of neat if I took time to explain in an off-the-cuff post what this fifth novel is about.
It goes like this: on the one hand I've focused on the sensuality of lesbian love (always foremost in my mind) and, on the other, I've targeted homophobia and incest.
This having been said, the feedback I've been getting so far suggests that most readers still come away from Jagged Dreams thinking this novel is really about tender mind- wanderings, love and struggling to keep one's promise.
I was deeply touched by a post which said that Jagged Dreams' contribution to lesbian writing resides in my `intelligent and sensitive handling of the issue of abuse.' Wow! Thank you for that, dear Susan from Brisbane!
OK, so ... beyond my mindset to regularly remind myself that the society in which I live is not as peachy-pink for everybody as it is for me, now that I am able to indulge my creativity from inside the emotionally safe life I share with my partner, I wanted to build in an extra layer - something that is very different from what I normally write about which is the overwhelming rollercoaster, mindblasting `thrill' of being attracted to someone we know we cannot `emotionally' afford, for whatever reasons. So I wrote the attack on Tamara in the prologue, and proceeded to throw about a couple of red-herrings while not losing my writing's primary focus - lesbian romance that exposes the vulnerable often emotional side of real lesbians' lives, warts and all, through painful introspection.
I'd be delighted to hear how this combo has worked for you so don't be shy. Make the most of free speech and submit-a-review interfaces available either here or from my website and sooner or later I'll get the message!
Do keep safe out there, no matter what!
C.C. Saint-clair
P.S. The star rating is, as it turns out, a required form field hence the 'compulsory' 5 star rating totally beyond my control! :)

Dear reader, hi!
I thought it might be kind of neat if I took time to explain in an off-the-cuff post what this fifth novel is about.
It goes like this: on the one hand I've focused on the sensuality of lesbian love (always foremost in my mind) and, on the other, I've targeted homophobia and incest.
This having been said, the feedback I've been getting so far suggests that most readers still come away from Jagged Dreams thinking this novel is really about tender mind- wanderings, love and struggling to keep one's promise.
I was deeply touched by a post which said that Jagged Dreams' contribution to lesbian writing resides in my `intelligent and sensitive handling of the issue of abuse.' Wow! Thank you for that, dear Susan from Brisbane!
OK, so ... beyond my mindset to regularly remind myself that the society in which I live is not as peachy-pink for everybody as it is for me, now that I am able to indulge my creativity from inside the emotionally safe life I share with my partner, I wanted to build in an extra layer - something that is very different from what I normally write about which is the overwhelming rollercoaster, mindblasting `thrill' of being attracted to someone we know we cannot `emotionally' afford, for whatever reasons. So I wrote the attack on Tamara in the prologue, and proceeded to throw about a couple of red-herrings while not losing my writing's primary focus - lesbian romance that exposes the vulnerable often emotional side of real lesbians' lives, warts and all, through painful introspection.
I'd be delighted to hear how this combo has worked for you so don't be shy. Make the most of free speech and submit-a-review interfaces available either here or from my website and sooner or later I'll get the message!
Do keep safe out there, no matter what!
C.C. Saint-clair
P.S. The star rating is, as it turns out, a required form field hence the 'compulsory' 5 star rating totally beyond my control! :)

this novel really does fill the void. There's a lot of very ot moments. well worn pages in my book.
There's "who's the bad guy"? There's "Could a lesbian be the bad guy* moment. Spoiler ahead: the anser is: NO
there's homophobia.
There's "can there really so much drama in 4 combined women's lives?
Spoiler ahead: I think the real-life anser is YES.
It all rings true. It's all snappy. and sexy. and hard. Though the lesbian characters are all emotionally healthy, the plot as a whole pushed a few buttons, but that's why I thought I should make the effort to post this review.
I'm sure more women out there would feel better about that 'murky'/ 'nasty' moment when someone took something away from them, like through incest or through creating a different emotional pain. Or if they have a best friend who *knows* about these things. this book is fiction but if they read Jagged Dreams, I think they'd feel better. better able to move on.