2/22/2022 Getting Clean with Stevie Green By Swan Huntley @otrpr

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gallery Books (February 1, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1982159626

BUYING LINKS: Amazon, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble

The author of the “sparkling dark romance” (Redbook) We Could Be Beautiful brings her “wit and verve” (The New York Times Book Review) to this quirky, feel-good novel about one woman’s messy journey from self-delusion to self-acceptance.

At thirty-seven, Stevie Green has had it with binge drinking and sleeping with strange men. She’s confused about her sexuality and her purpose in life. When her mother asks her to return to her hometown of La Jolla to help her move into a new house, she’s desperate enough to say yes. The move goes so well that Stevie decides to start her own decluttering business. She stops drinking. She hires her formerly estranged sister, Bonnie, to be her business partner. She rekindles a romance with her high school sweetheart, Brad. Things are better than ever—except for the complicated past that Stevie can’t seem to outrun.

Who was responsible for the high school scandal that caused her life to take a nosedive twenty years earlier? Why is she so secretive about the circumstances of her father’s death? Why are her feelings for her ex-friend, Chris, so mystifying? If she’s done drinking, then why can’t she seem to declutter the mini wine bottles from her car?

A winsome, fast-paced read, Getting Clean With Stevie Green is about coming to terms with who you are, resolving the pain of your past, and accepting the truth of your life in all its messy glory.

“What to Read When 2022 is Just Around the Corner” — The Rumpus
“Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Adult Fiction” — LGBTQ Reads
“Most Anticipated LGBTQ Books of 2022” — Buzzfeed
“10 Books We Can’t Wait to Read” —PureWow

Booklist raves, “Loyal readers of Kelly Harms, Lia Louis, and Maria Semple will fall for this compelling novel of identity, reinvention, and the contrast between ordered spaces and hidden chaos.”

MY THOUGHTS:

I love imperfect characters – the messier the better. Getting Clean with Stevie Green is a darkly funny, witty read that looks at life on how one woman’s past (a high school scandal) lead down into a rabbit hole of a mess. It is a heavy read, but very hopeful. I love the process of seeing Stevie Green gets cleaned up physically, mentally, and metaphorically.

Stevie Green is a fast paced read with short chapters that moved the story forward. Though the story dealt with issues of alcoholism, sexual identity, and family relationships, I found the story enjoyable and delightful. This was certainly a different read, and I am glad have had the opportunity to read this.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:  

Swan Huntley is a writer living in Los Angeles. Her novels include Getting Clean With Stevie Green (2022), The Goddesses (2017), and We Could Be Beautiful (2016). She earned her MFA at Columbia University and has received fellowships from The MacDowell Colony and The Corporation at Yaddo, where she was the 2019 recipient of The LeSage-Fullilove Residency. Her writings have appeared on Salon, The Rumpus, and Autostraddle, among others.