Truly, everyone should read this book. I’m happy that it found me in this moment of my life. As Melissa Febos travels back through an inventory of her past relationships, each section imparted so much on me as I considered my own relationship to sex and love. There is a delicious sort of ache in each chapter as she reflects on personal desire and the things we deny ourselves for the sake of those we love. In the same way that you shouldn’t scarf down a decadent meal, I could not push myself to read this book quickly. I savored and reflected on each chapter. She teaches the reader so much, using her own story as a guide to pull me in and point me towards histories of powerful women (beguines, mystics, writers) I hadn’t yet considered. I am left satisfied and inspired.
The Dry Season by Melissa Febos, (List Price: $29, Knopf, 9780593537237, June 2025)
Reviewed by Alyssa Sotelo, Tombolo Books in St Petersburg, Florida