Butch Girls Can Fix Anything by Paula Offutt

Butch Girls Can Fix Anything by Paula Offutt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


If this book had ended somewhere around the 81st to 87st percent mark, I'd likely have placed this on my 5+ stars shelf. As it is I'm only tentatively rating the book 5 stars, while thinking about what shelf to put it on - probably 4.75. Odd thought to have, I know, when the whole book is only something like 228 pages long.

I'm not exactly sure what happened there. Wasn't a crisis point or anything - no, there were some before that point. I can't really think of anything that happened specifically that changed the book in my mind. Though I do know that the book turned super sappy in the last quarter of the book.

Well, I was just going to leave a brief note about ratings and stuff then something about maybe saying something more later. Then took longer than I expected to just say that. I should probably add some more while I'm here . . ..

The book stars Grace (30+ year old single mother; I think somewhere between 32 and 34) & Lucy (nine year old kid), and Kelly the butch (what, sometimes it seemed like it was a title; 'And here, ladies and gentlemen, is Butch Kelly.'; 36 if I recall correctly). Both of the adults would have, separately as lead characters in a book, warranted use of the 'women-with-tools' shelf. Though Grace would have gotten there through her job as a factory worker; while Kelly would have gotten there as being a 'Jack-of-all-trades' type (she can do plumbing, construction, planning, etc. etc.).

Grace, as already implied, comes with Lucy as part of her package; while Kelly comes with . . . . I guess the ghost of a bad prior relationship (with Anne; many flashbacks to Kelly's time with Anne, who, it appears, was a massive bitch (Anne that is)).

Two issues I had with the book - book got weirdly sappy/sugary/something or other in last quarter of the book; and there was this weird issue that came up that confuses me (both Grace and Kelly, separately, can't believe they are in the situation they are in because the other is 'so perfect', and both want to make sure that the other is 'real' and stuff . . . but . . . where the bloody hell is this 'so perfect' coming from? They both already know the other is flawed. I mean, Grace knows Kelly has a massive temper that she's trying to control, and while it isn't likely to erupt as badly as it did 'that one time', and that she isn't likely to hurt Grace or Lucy because of it (if, you know, she isn't in berserker mode like she was that one time); even putting on all of these 'we know she won't erupt again like this' type of disclaimers - she did literally lose control of herself to the point that she lost herself until a night passed, after which she found herself restrained in a hospital bed with arms and hands badly damaged - so much so there is/was fear of nerve damage and the like). 'Too perfect'? WTF?

Mind you, I think the three, Grace, Lucy, and Kelly are perfect for each other, but they all have flaws. Worry about 'too perfect' just seemed . . . weird.

Rating: . . . . 4.75-4.92

March 24 2017



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