American Goth

by J.D. Glass

To Walk Through Fire… At two Samantha Cray lost her mother. By fifteen her father was gone. At eighteen she lost the only woman she'd ever truly love. Trapped by an unsuspected inheritance - the gift of her father’s blood, guided only by the guardian who holds the secret to her future, Samantha must enter an arcane new world where why she fights is sometimes more important than what…And she must walk the path of Light alone. But the darkness within parallels the darkness without… and the hunger she is charged to control in others echoes through her as well. Constantly questioning what is duty, what is selfishness, what is self...Boy. Girl. Gay. Straight. All of them, none of them…or something just a little…different, and all intertwined with a destiny only she can fulfill. The purest steel goes through the hottest flame. Let those who should beware: the only power to rival love is righteous fury -- and a new Wielder has been sworn.

Genres: Lesbian, Fiction, Lesbian Fiction, LGBT, Fantasy, Paranormal

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

JD Glass is a well-known author and musician. She's from New York City, and has a strong following for both her writing and her music.

JD Glass is the author of American Library Association (Stonewall) and Lambda Literary Award (Literature) finalist Punk Like Me, Punk And Zen, Lambda Literary Award and Ben Franklin Award finalist Red Light, GCLS finalist American Goth, and the critically acclaimed X; selection editor (and contributor) of GCLS Award winning anthology Outsiders, and listed on the Advocate's Top 100 (2011) for CORE, Vol.1 Iss.1. JD is also contributor to the 50 Gay and Lesbian Books You Must Read, and is a GCLS Finalist for Nocturnes (an erotic anthology). Her latest works include Punk And Zen Pt. 1: The ReMix, Interludes, and First Blood.

Called by some the voice of a generation and the erotic philospher by others, JD works in often familiar-seeming worlds, with people we know, people like ourselves, people we’d like to meet, and provides powerful stories that allow the reader to rejoice and wonder, stumble and fall, then rejoice victoriously again at the amazing experience of being human.

Reviews

[Shannon Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading American Goth, it really helped me understand the characters from the other novels more.

[Susan Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very cognitive book. The beginning was rough with a lot of shifts from first to third person. It was not evident until almost 25% through the book that the reason for this was to separate the sense of self from the character in certain environments. There is also a distinct lack of proper chapter usage. The author gets into a concept and spends several chapters working through this concept, but instead of breaking them up as chapters wrote them all as very long chapters with only a line break. The book could have really soared with proper editing that was obviously lacking.

All the technical stuff aside the writing was beautiful and delved into a very under touched facet of society. To Be or Not To Be sums up this book. While very cognitively and spiritually exploring the strength and power and confusion of love the main character also explores what makes her, her. Gay, Straight, woman, or trans-man or even at time a swirling mix of grey encompassing all of them. There are so many people that struggle with these facets to themselves and understanding where exactly they are on the spectrum. I think this is an important book for those reasons. My only real issue with the content is there doesn't seem to be a reason the main character chose to be an instrument of light, no conscious choice. It seemed almost as if the author chose that stance because they didn't want a gay character to be linked with something evil, when I would argue that gay people struggle with the same light and dark issues straight people do. There is no real difference between them. Humans are humans.

This is a worthwhile read, especially for those exploring the different kinds of love and sexuality. I just wish some of the technical issues had been dealt with and little more thought put into the main character and her vices.

[Mariah]

lil too much sci-fi for me.. I started reading after having read Punk Like Me, and Punk & Zen. I wanted to read the story of Sam, but it was not what I expected at all.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was great to have lesbian Romance in my hands. I will always love you for writing this.

[Cynfinit · Rating 1 out of 5]

I rarely find a book I just can't read but 21 pages in I just can't take it anymore.

[Dide · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I hope the author has plans for a continuation because the end or no end demands it. The book was just too Harry potter like...I wouldn't say I enjoyed it...infact I didn't. Perhaps it's just not my ilk but it does deserve a continuation