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Endpapers
Endpapers | Jennifer Savran Kelly
10 posts | 8 read | 1 reading | 17 to read
An accessible, character-driven story set in 2003 New York City about a genderqueer book conservator who feels trapped by her gender presentation, her ill-fitting relationship, and her artistic block, as she discovers a decades-old hidden queer love letter and becomes obsessed with tracking down its author. Its 2003, and artist Dawn Levit is stuck. A bookbinder who works in conservation at the Met, she spends her free time scouting the citys street art, hoping something might spark inspiration. Instead, everything looks like a dead end. And art isnt the only thing that feels wrong: wherever she turns, her gender identity clashes with the rest of her life. Her relationship, once anchored by shared queerness, is falling apart as her boyfriend Lukas increasingly seems to be attracted to Dawn only when shes at her most masculine. Meanwhile at work, Dawn has to present as female, even on the days when that isnt true. Either way, her difference feels like a liability. Then, one day at work, Dawn finds something hidden behind the endpaper of an old book: the torn-off cover of a 50s lesbian pulp novel, Turn Her About. On the front is a campy illustration of a woman looking into a handheld mirror and seeing a mans face. And on the back is a love letter. Dawn latches onto the coincidence, becoming obsessed with tracking down the notes author. Her fixation only increases when her best friend Jae is injured in a hate crime, for which Dawn feels responsible. As Dawn searches for the letters author, she is also looking for herself. She tries to understand how to live in a world that doesnt see her as she truly is, how to get unstuck in her gender, and how to rediscover her art, and she cant shake the feeling that the notes author might be able to help guide her to the answers. A sharply written, deeply evocative story about what it means to live authenticallyeven within an identity whose parameters have not yet been definedEndpapers will appeal to readers of queer, nonbinary, or trans fiction like Torrey Peters Detransition, Baby as well as anyone who loves character-driven, setting-rich stories like Tell the Wolves Im Home or The Immortalists.
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review
Megabooks
Endpapers | Jennifer Savran Kelly
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Pickpick

I loved this book. Kelly explored gender and sexuality and the weight of history without losing the all-too-important human connections that made this a great novel.

Dawn is a queer, gender fluid person in a relationship with another person exploring their own gender identity in 2001 NYC. When Dawn finds a lesbian paperback cover from the 1950s with a love note on it, she begins a journey into queer history that clears her artistic block.

BarbaraBB Thank you for tagging. I‘ll definitely read it! 5d
Megabooks @BarbaraBB Great! I hope you enjoy it. I think you'll like the parts about their art and visual process a lot. 5d
Cathythoughts Great review, stacked 👍🏻❤️ 5d
See All 7 Comments
Megabooks @Cathythoughts thanks! I hope you enjoy it! 5d
Megabooks This was my #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks 🎉🎉 4d
Megabooks This is also a #roll100 @PuddleJumper 🎉🎉 4d
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!!! 3d
86 likes4 stack adds7 comments
review
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
Endpapers | Jennifer Savran Kelly
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Pickpick

This incredible book is an honest and fascinating character study of a mid-20s struggling artist and bookbinder named Dawn. Dawn is a gender fluid bi Jewish person living in NYC in 2003 and she is, well, lost. When she discovers a queer love letter written on the back of 1950s lesbian pulp novel cover, she becomes obsessed with finding the woman who wrote it, thinking it will somehow help her self actualize. Beautiful character development!

29 likes1 stack add1 comment
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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
Endpapers | Jennifer Savran Kelly
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"Sometimes, being lost is an opportunity."

I sure hope this ends up being the case for Dawn, the protagonist! She isn't sure how to get out of her artist's block and she isn't sure about how to embody her gender fluidity, and she isn't sure whether her current relationship fits her anymore.

DebbieGrillo Your user name is the best! Hello fellow Canadian. ✌️❤️🇨🇦 4w
28 likes2 comments
review
LiteraryinLawrence
Endpapers | Jennifer Savran Kelly
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Pickpick

I‘m glad I read this, because I‘d love to see more genderqueer and questioning protagonists. The setting of the arts scene in NYC in the early 2000s got my attention. There were several interesting central and side characters. It‘s not a new favorite book, but it gets a soft Pick from me.

I started this while on vacation. What a great view for reading (missing it already)!

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LiteraryinLawrence
Endpapers | Jennifer Savran Kelly
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Ready to post my August #boookspin list! This is a mix of owned books and library books including lots of this summer‘s new releases. Let the summer reading continue! Excited to make my #bookspinbingo board this week. 💗

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 8mo
52 likes1 comment
blurb
Megabooks
Endpapers | Jennifer Savran Kelly
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It seems Yellowface is really a popular choice in the #CampLitsy23 nominations, but I think some of these others are new. I have really enjoyed seeing everyone‘s nominees today! My wallet is going to hurt this Spring, but at least I saved some gift cards and audiobook credits. 😁

Endpapers is tagged above, and the others are tagged below. I‘m so glad to see many new and old faces at camp this year!

See All 25 Comments
squirrelbrain I‘m really excited for all of your choices! 11mo
BarbaraBB Me too. You chose so well. I want to go and order right now but I order myself to wait til the longlist. 11mo
BarbaraBB … which is probably a looooooooonglist 🙃🤣 @squirrelbrain 11mo
sarahbarnes Oh, Endpapers sounds really good! And I almost included Flux on my list! 11mo
TrishB I‘m going to enjoy looking up everyone‘s choices! 11mo
CSeydel Ooh I almost nominated 11mo
Chelsea.Poole great selections, as always! 🤗 11mo
Cinfhen Fantastic recommendations 😁 11mo
Ruthiella Another vote for Yellowface! 👍 And Flux looks most interesting! 🤔 11mo
Megabooks @Ruthiella I am really interested to see if the early enthusiasm will make YF a camp selection! 11mo
Megabooks @Cinfhen @Chelsea.Poole thanks! It was so fun sifting through books to find some hidden gems! 11mo
Megabooks @CSeydel I am so excited for that one! I loved 11mo
Megabooks @TrishB I cannot wait for @squirrelbrain ‘s longlist spreadsheet! 11mo
Megabooks @sarahbarnes I am so excited about Endpapers! It is on my likely to purchase regardless of whether it is chosen list. Flux sounds really interesting. I think it would be nice to have a genre fiction title or two. It all depends on the votes! 11mo
Megabooks @BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain it has been so fun emailing with you two about our own choices, and now I‘m excited to see everyone else‘s! It going to be a great summer! 11mo
BarbaraBB I had no idea so many good books would be published this summer. I thought I had them all on my radar 😉 11mo
batsy I have Endpapers on my list too! 11mo
Larkken Happy to see Flux, as that book was almost on my list 😊 11mo
Megabooks @Larkken it sounds really cool! 11mo
Megabooks @batsy awesome!! 👍🏻 11mo
89 likes1 stack add25 comments
review
MicheleinPhilly
Endpapers | Jennifer Savran Kelly
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Mehso-so

This wasn‘t bad but I felt like the author tried to do too much. There were so many disparate parts and I don‘t think she weaved them together successfully. The timeline didn‘t work for me either as it felt way too “of the moment.” I just couldn‘t see much of this journey happening 20 years ago. 👵🏼

TrishB Great review 👍🏻 13mo
64 likes1 comment
review
psalva
Endpapers | Jennifer Savran Kelly
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Pickpick

This was a fantastic reading experience. The main character, Dawn, a genderqueer artist working as a bookbinder at the Met, finds a love letter from the 1950s written in German and hidden in the endpapers of a damaged book. This intriguing story follows their search for the woman who wrote the letter while at the same time exploring her search for artistic inspiration and struggles with a complicated romantic relationship. ⬇️

psalva It‘s set in 2003 in New York, and the author does a great job capturing the atmosphere of a post-9/11 city, as well as Dawn‘s experience learning about queer lives in the past and the importance of self-expression. Such a page turning book that took me totally be surprise. I ate it up. 13mo
jlhammar Great review! This was already on my to-read list so very happy to hear it‘s a good one. 13mo
psalva @jlhammar It‘s definitely worth a read. I hope you enjoy it if you get to it :) 13mo
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Reggie What a fantastic review. Stacked! 13mo
psalva @reggie Thanks! I hope you enjoy it if you get to it! 13mo
Lindy I‘m intrigued! Stacked. 13mo
17 likes3 stack adds6 comments
review
RJRobertson
Endpapers | Jennifer Savran Kelly
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Pickpick

Books about books.