Cover Image: The Right Closet

The Right Closet

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Member Reviews

Definitely a classic LGBT+ book troupe.

Creama LaCroppe is a well-known Drag Queen that was recruited to expose religious, anti-LGBT+ congressman Dick Peak for his suspicious business dealings. Dick is going on vacation to Puerto Rico. Cream LaCroppe poses a straight male using her birth name, Carlos. While on the plane, Dick and Carlos bond. The plane crashes into the ocean. Carlos jumps in and helps get multiple people off the plane and into the rafts on the ocean. As the Pilot gets ready to jump, he encourages Carlos to go. Carlos realizes that Dick was still on the plane. Carlos went back for Dick while the Pilot jumped. Dick is unconscious so Carlos makes sure he's saved as they jump into the ocean. Unfortunately, the rafts were already far away from them so they float and somehow make it to an island where they're rescued. Both Carlos and Dick lose their memories. Carlos's best friend, Tawny, a lesbian, goes on a mission to find him. She runs into Kate, the flight attendant on the plane. The two of them go through many obstacles to find Carlos while Dick's secondhand man and best friend joins them in the search.

There are multiple different plots that are going on in the story and it can be confusing. The hospital knew Carlos's name as he had an ID on him and was at a VA hospital. They didn't reach out to anyone that Carlos knew like friends or family. Another confusing part is why Carlos was still considered active when his friends had no idea of his military experience.

Every character was LGBT+ and the straight characters all seem to hate the LGBT+. I think if the characters were more defined and there were characters that were allies, it'd be a bit better. Narrowing down on the subplots as well would be beneficial.

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

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This is the first book I've read by this author, It not a bad story but it just wasn't for me. However. I will recommend as I'm sure others will find it very enjoyable.

3 stars

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I felt kind of let down to be honest. Going by the blurb this should have been a fun book, but all it did was frustrate me to the point that I nearly did not finish it. But I have a rule. If you trust me to read the book then the least I can do is finish it. I'm sorry to say I did finish it and was disappointed.

It has potential but at the moment it's sitting on the fence to me. It's too much near the truth to be funny. I was looking forward to a light hearted read. But it wasn't.

I don't really want to get into the story except to say it go's in three different directions. Or should I say three story lines. There is some good in the book but as I said earlier it's too near the truth to be funny.

Would I recommend it. I guess I would but ignore the title. Then you won't be disappointed.

Enjoy!

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Hey, have you heard the joke about a drag Queen, an anti gay religious right politician and a lesbian all walk into a gay bar together? …….. the let down of not having a funny punchline here is the same feeling you have after you finish Melissa Price’s new novel.
The Right Closet sounded like it would be a riotous read of gay politics turning the religious right onto their heels. However the humour is short of hitting the high mark of drag Queen banter and one liners.
The premise of the story is interesting and quite unique from any other that I have read. It asks an interesting question about becoming your true self if all your memories vanished. Unfortunately the story is so busy and heading in three different directions at once that the most interesting part of the novel gets trampled and left in the dust.
The Right Closet has great potential to be a good novel. It needs to simplify and reduce the number of subplot lines. As well the characters need to be fleshed out as they are more caricatures than character.
I love the slyness of the title. It is very smart and has me thinking about the religious right in a different light. For all my criticisms of the book I did enjoy parts of it and it did make me think hard about my preconceived perceptions.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review.

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I am all for books with a diverse cast and some slightly crazy antics, this one was a bit too out there for me.

It's a mix of 3 storylines, which actually are all interwoven, but feel separate, this made for a book I just couldn't connect with. Creama LaCroppe is a fabulous Drag Queen and goes out on a mission to expose congressman Dick Peak's suspicious business dealings. While on a plane to Puerto Rico out of drag, so as Carlos, he bonds with the congressman. When the plane n0se dives into the Caribbean Sea Carlos's previous life as a marine surfaces, he saves many and in his latch ditch effort he saves Dick. They both lose their memories and end up in a VA hospital. Carlos's best friend, Tawny, goes looking for him and finds flight attended Kate who is doing the same to find her heroic passenger. And it all just bumble along. I just find it so strange no one at the VA finds a way to contact any relatives or anyone about Carlos. The mixing up of Carlos's pronouns is confusing for me as well, as is the insistence of them to pronounce Creame's name completely wrong. There is just so much in this story that doesn't make sense to me. And the separate storylines - amnesia, finding your BFF and the business dealings - it's all loose sand that just slips through my fingers every time I try to make some sort of sense out of it.

I was hoping to have fun with this book, going by the blurb it should have been fun, but I ended up frustrated and wanted this story to end. This isn't a book I enjoy. It's too close to the truth to be hysterical and funny and not far enough from the truth to just shake your head and laugh at what's going on. I guess what I am trying to say is that it wasn't ridiculous enough to be the fun and light read I was expecting. And it wasn't serious enough to be a solid story. In the end I have no idea what I read, I just know it wasn't the book for me.

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