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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/115009.Valencia?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Valencia" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1171694582m/115009.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/115009.Valencia?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Valencia</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16059.Michelle_Tea">Michelle Tea</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2179545?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 4 of 5 stars<br/>I wrote this book review for one of the various review periodicals I submitted reviews to in the early 2000s.
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<br/>I didn’t want this story to end.  I was so enthralled by the adventures of the main character Michelle and all of her queer buddies and lady lovers--so caught up in each drug altered, alcohol induced, drama queen tale of sex and love, crushes and desire—that I wanted it to last forever.  Like the girlfriend who keeps you on the edge of your seat, squealing in delight and biting your fist in anticipation as she recounts her latest exciting episode, Michelle Tea is an expert storyteller.  Her characters seem like people I know, or at least like friends of friends that I have heard so much about.  Even the minor characters have quirks and personality, and by the time I finished reading the book, I felt that I knew the protagonist better than I know some of my friends who have been around for years.  Although the book’s back cover is clearly labeled “fiction”, Tea makes even extraordinary events seem so possible that I have to wonder if such crazy adventures are truly a part of her world.   Tea doesn’t sugar coat what it was like to be a young, underpaid, scamming, outlaw dyke living in San Francisco in the late 1990’s, but the life still seems oh so sweet.  I like to think that Valencia could have been about me if I had figured out sooner that I like to kiss girls, if I had headed off for San Francisco instead of staying too long in New Orleans.  But even if I didn’t actually live the life Michelle Tea writes, I can always live it vicariously through Valencia.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/142816?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Chantel's review
rating:
bookshelves: queer
recommended for: dykes longing to come of age in the big city

I wrote this book review for one of the various review periodicals I submitted reviews to in the early 2000s.

I didn’t want this story to end. I was so enthralled by the adventures of the main character Michelle and all of her queer buddies and lady lovers--so caught up in each drug altered, alcohol induced, drama queen tale of sex and love, crushes and desire—that I wanted it to last forever. Like the girlfriend who keeps you on the edge of your seat, squealing in delight and biting your fist in anticipation as she recounts her latest exciting episode, Michelle Tea is an expert storyteller. Her characters seem like people I know, or at least like friends of friends that I have heard so much about. Even the minor characters have quirks and personality, and by the time I finished reading the book, I felt that I knew the protagonist better than I know some of my friends who have been around for years. Although the book’s back cover is clearly labeled “fiction”, Tea ma...more

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