Phew, this was a challenging and difficult read. Feinberg tackles some truly difficult and painful topics in this book, and zie does so raw and emotionally. It is not a book for the faint of heart, but one that I feel is necessary. As a queer person, it is important to me to keep our history close to heart, and this book, though a work of fiction, is a heavy reminder of our community's difficult history. While I was admittedly not always a fan of the writing and found it at times to be a bit stiff and slow, overall I think this is an important, relevant, and necessary book that I definitely recommend. And as much as our main character, Jess, sometimes drove me crazy with the decisions that she made, I felt very close with her as a character and appreciated very much her difficult journey through gender, sexuality, and poverty.

I am grateful to Feinberg for ensuring that Stone Butch Blues would be made available for free digitally on hir website, https://www.lesliefeinberg.net/.