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REVIEW: Neon Roses by Rachel Dawson


Genre: LGBTQ+ Fiction | Romance | Literary Fiction

Release Date: Expected 25th May 2023

Publisher: John Murray Press

Eluneds life is grey - her family and the community are suffering through the miners strikes and police brutality that follows. She's trying to support her family with her wages from the shoe shop and her sister seems to have abandoned them in favour for one of the coppers trying to beat them into submission. Even her seemingly perfect boyfriend doesn't bring joy into her life.

But then she meets June, with her leather jacket and wonky teeth - she's the most beautiful woman Lun has ever seen. When she arrives in town as part of a Gay and Lesbian fundraising group supporting the strike, the grey fades and life suddenly seems neon and bright. Soon, she finds herself venturing away from her hometown to a fundraising gig in Camden hoping to see her again.

She can't deny she's inexplicably drawn to this woman, and her liberal activist lifestyle in ways she doesn't quite understand - but is figuring out who she is worth giving up everything she thought she was?

"I think I finally understand the word comrade, and why say it's an international brotherhood-sisterhood. Whatever. That sensed of being in the same fight."

Neon Roses is a gloriously queer coming-of-age story about finding yourself over and over again - set against the nostalgic backdrop of 80's tunes, excess hairspray and thatcherism. 

Dawsons exciting debut tackles such important topics at its core, but its also immensely fun, full of wickedly smart humour and heart. We watch Eluned throughout her journey, and even though she isn't narrating directly to us, her casual conversational tone breaks through easily; she notices little things, goes off on tangents and shows us how she sees the changing world in front of her. I loved her Welsh dialect and phrases throughout, I understand some very basic welsh but even if you don't it's easy to understand in the context. 

Her life is drab and difficult, struggling to make ends meet in her fractured family. Her world is one of strikes, discrimination, generational trauma, poverty and desperation for change. Then, it's like the entire story is imbued with energy and hope when she meets June - the entire tone shifts into one of nervous excitement. Her world opens up, she'd never met people who don't conform to the gender binary, who are proudly queer, who is bold about female sexuality and willing to fight for others. Lud tries on new identities, and at times she isn't the most likeable person but that just made her feel so authentic that I loved her anyway.

The story moves slowly - like the way you look back over the last few months and didn't even notice your whole life has changed. Lud has her moment of realisation, but a million times over - and soon the most ordinary moments of her life like finding a job, meeting roommates, seeing friends seem extraordinary. I love how the whole story isn't just about June - she's just the catalyst.

This is gritty and real story, giving us a snapshot of a pocket in time - holding a lens to our past to show how much and how little we've changed.

Neon Roses is a joyfully queer, indulgently steamy and beautifully liberal triumph with an electrifying soundtrack - a bold statement about acceptance and love, not just for ourselves but for the people that surround us.


⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review.

cw: swearing, riots, police brutality, sex, recreational drugs, homophobia, pregnancy, alcohol, abusive relationships. 

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