Rainbow Black
Ratings2
Average rating4
15
Ratings2
Average rating4
“I've loved Maggie Thrash's work for years, and Rainbow Black is going to set so many new hearts aflame—murder, intrigue, queer love, dark humor AND satanic panic? Welcome to the Maggie Thrash Fan Club, world!”—Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow For readers of Donna Tartt and Ottessa Moshfegh comes a brilliant, deliriously entertaining novel from the acclaimed author of Honor Girl. Rainbow Black is part murder mystery, part gay international fugitive love story—set against the ’90s Satanic Panic and spanning 20 years in the life of a young woman pulled into its undertow. Lacey Bond is a 13-year-old girl in New Hampshire growing up in the tranquility of her hippie parents’ rural daycare center. Then the Satanic Panic hits. It’s the summer of 1990 when Lacey ’s parents are handcuffed, flung into the county jail, and faced with a torrent of jaw-dropping accusations as part of a mass hysteria sweeping the nation. When a horrific murder brings Lacey to the breaking point, she makes a ruthless choice that will haunt her for decades. As an adult, Lacey mimes a normal life as the law clerk of an illustrious judge. She has a beautiful girlfriend, a measure of security, and the world has mostly forgotten about her. But after a tiny misstep spirals into an uncontrolled legal disaster, the hysteria threatens to begin all over again. Rainbow Black is an addictive, searing, high-octane triumph, an imaginative tour de force about one woman’s tireless desire to be free.
Reviews with the most likes.
This absolutely would have been a five star read had it been about 100 pgs shorter. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed hearing about how they made it to Canada and the life they had built for themselves, but shorter.
Lacey Bond's parents are hippies who run a daycare center and who fall victim to the Satanic Panic of the 90's being accused of torturing and sexually abusing children under their care. This story belongs to Lacey and her friend, Dylan. This is the fallout for children mixed up in a world in which the adults have gone off the rails.
I almost DNF'd when we met Lacey's sister, Eclair (I kid you not) but I loved Honor Girl and wanted to tough this out. Then I fell in love with the story. I was completely onboard until the last couple of hundred pages. At that point, I thought the story had just gone on too long.
I don't understand the character of Gwen. I understand the trauma, I understand the background, I just wonder because her behavior is very strange and very immature. The scene, for example, in which Gwen meets Lacey's mother at the door and takes the jar of honey that has been brought as a housewarming gift and proceeds to smear it across her own face. Strange, strange behavior.
I still recommend this highly. The main story is fantastic and I really did enjoy the peek into the gay rights movement in Montreal. I was just exhausted by the time it wrapped up.
