Calling Rain

by Karen Marie Christa Minns

.

Genres: Fiction

219 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1991

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

inspiring reminder that anyone can write a book

[Christy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise is intriguing enough: woman scientist discovers a species of North American great apes living in caves in the mountains, thereby solving the mystery of the Bigfoot/Sasquatch mythology; a young female college student is intrigued and joins her there to study them; then there's a lesbian romance.

Okay.

But the book fails on multiple levels. It is neither well-written nor well-edited. It includes such winning lines as this one, describing the feeling of the protagonist after being startled awake, "My heart is a racing marmot." (I suspect the author was going for vividly poetic here, but I just think it's hilarious.) And the ending is raced through and makes very little sense. The supposedly intelligent and ethical primatologist starts acting like a jerk and making insane demands of her companions, including her lover. And then, though I consider myself a good reader, I am actually not sure about what's happening in the epilogue (plot is the most basic element of a novel! I should be able to figure this out!).

Also, I never did figure out what the title is supposed to mean.

[Cameo · Rating 2 out of 5]

When my cousin lent this book to me, she described it as Twilight with Sasquatch. After finishing it, I realized how stupidly accurate that was. A fast read, pretty unsatisfying.

[Kitty]

crying mmy fucking eyes out over lesbian primatologist

[Cori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Objectively this was not a 4 star book. Especially with its ending it does not even really deserve to be a 3 star book. But it was so weird that I think it deserves to be a cult classic.

[Emily Bailey]

This really could have used a once-over from a good copyeditor before publication. The verb tenses are all over the fucking place, even within sentences. Still easily the best erotic Jane Goodall fan fiction I've ever read. Karen Marie Christa Minns could have taken this whole insane fantasy to her grave and instead she chose to write it down and publish it, because until we find each other we are alone. I wonder if she still answers all her mail.