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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
dark
sad
Really interesting plot. Very slow/ confusing start. This book could really have benefitted from more editing. It was not clear in the beginning that the characters are all connected, which made it harder to care about them. I got really into it in the middle/almost until the end. The last 30 pages felt rushed and I was annoyed that the Hector/Mateo relationship was not more resolved, and that you don't hear more from Milly's perspective towards the end. Honestly, it felt like the author kind of gave up at the end. Still, I think the subject matter is so interesting that it is still a 4-star book.
There were multiple times in Tim Murphys sprawling, ambitious, yet hugely intimate novel that I expected these characters to cross paths with Jude and Willem from Yanigahara's, 'A Little Life', or any one of Maupin's colorful cast of 28 Barbary Lane. And if, like me, you loved those two worlds then this should feel like visiting an old friend. Murphy's backdrop is the lower East side in the eighties at the start of the AIDS epidemic, and it's the disease that propels so many of these characters into inevitable intersections. It starts with a young bohemian couple who are both artists, Milly and Jared, who live in the Christodora, a rehabbed condo building adjacent to Tompkins Square Park. Their neighbor is a hunky gay latino whose personal tragedies move him to AIDS activism which drives the center of the story. The thread that links them is a young abandoned boy named Mateo whose mother died of the disease soon after she gives birth to him. The book stretches over fifty years as these people grapple with identity, family, life, death, drugs, and loss. And despite writing what could feel overwhelmingly depressing, Murphy manages to infuse a massive shot of hope into the story, leaving this reader more than satisfied.
This debut novel deals with AIDS, drugs, more drugs, rehab, mental illness, homosexuality, adoption, art and many other topics. Spanning decades, from 1981 until 2021, It is set mainly in New York City.
The Christodora is a building in Manhattan. The apartment was bought by Jared's father in 70's. The story is centered around Jared, Milly and their adopted son, Mateo. And the story goes back and forth in 3 generations of this family. Their struggle with East Village’s tumultuous changes, as AIDS, drugs and eventually gentrification roil the neighborhood.
This is a long novel and a bit draggy for me. But Tim murphy has wonderfully put the old crisis into words.
ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
The Christodora is a building in Manhattan. The apartment was bought by Jared's father in 70's. The story is centered around Jared, Milly and their adopted son, Mateo. And the story goes back and forth in 3 generations of this family. Their struggle with East Village’s tumultuous changes, as AIDS, drugs and eventually gentrification roil the neighborhood.
This is a long novel and a bit draggy for me. But Tim murphy has wonderfully put the old crisis into words.
ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
Maybe the best book I read all year. Sprawling but not too long, moving but not sappy. Just wonderful.
This book was a bit like a mash-up of "A Little Life" meets "The Nightingale." Which is to say: it was a well-written and riveting look at AIDS, addiction and family in a story that spanned four decades in NYC - and it had a trainwreck quality to it. I listened to the audiobook, and it's not hard to imagine reading it by squinting through my fingers in an attempt to half-see everything, including the graphic accounts of drug use. I'd score "A Little Life" ahead of this because it really is a love story of sorts, whereas this has more of a sensational voyeuristic quality to it. Still: a good read with an acute sense of time and place.
Oh - and this book skips around a lot, so if you're attached to a linear timeline, you might get frustrated. I liked the skipping, but I know it's not everyone's jam.
Oh - and this book skips around a lot, so if you're attached to a linear timeline, you might get frustrated. I liked the skipping, but I know it's not everyone's jam.
I went into this book not knowing much about it other than it was written by a reporter experienced in covering HIV/AIDS topics. I was pleasantly surprised that it highlights the unsung heroes of the movement -- women of color. My only issue with Christodora is that I thought the chapters where Murphy attempts to write from the voice of an Afro-Latino teenager were quite awkward.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is such an incredible novel that highlights the experience of women during the AIDS crisis and activism which I’ve not come across often. I loved this so much!