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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Abortion
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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
this is a tragic story set against the backdrop of the art world and new york city, infused with finite moments of real joy. it detailed the dark depths of drug addiction, heartbreak, trauma and mental illness and gave each character a unique voice while still melding these voices together in a way that made their interpersonal relationships that much more realistic and that much more tragic. however, there was the unexpected use of the N word by non-black characters (written by a non-black author), which i'm not quite sure served any purpose other than perhaps to show how non-black people felt comfortable taking that which does not belong to them...but i'm not sure that's what murphy intended with that. there was also the constant reiteration of one of the characters smelling really bad (he's described as having a "bacon-y" smell at once). i also wasn't a huge fan of the weird technologically advanced version of NYC at the end and wished it focused more on the characters, although i understand that their relationship with the city is important so it is fitting to detail how this relationship looks in the face of a new landscape. other than this, i really loved this book and teared up at some of the more harrowing passages that dealt with death and the unique difficulties of drug addiction.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this book! In reviews, comparisons were often made to A Little Life. While I see where that's coming from, the relative shorter length of christodora and the bigger cast of characters however meant that I felt less deeply for the characters in christodora. I liked the twist with Mateo's biological father, but also how it remained unresolved. The last couple of pages were also very, very good.
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use
wow.
honestly i am so emotional right now i literally spent 15 minutes after the end page sobbing to my bf and now my eyeballs hurt and i have a headache. this was SO good.
following the story of a family and friends over generations looking at how drugs, art, AIDs and mental illness all intersect and affect these characters lives in different ways. this was so heartbreaking, and very hard to read at times. it features graphic drug use and sex and it definitely not easy to read. i was very down one day and i literally could not pick it up. HOWEVER onto the good stuff. the author does an amazing job of creating atmosphere and real emotion, and the characters are all tangible, they feel like real people and because its told through different perspectives the characters feel 3D and are all perceived differently by different people. the use of time jumps in the narrative is amazing and the way things are interwoven is incredible, the skill involved to do that is so difficult but it was executed so well. i loved how raw this felt, at times i hated characters and then the next page i would find more about them and really like them. the way this was written reminded me of michael cunningham's 'the hours' which is a book i really loved so it was nice to read this and make links between the two. my favourite character was milly - i related to her so much, and the ending made me fucking cry like a baby. i cannot wait to write my essay for uni about this book because i have so much to say and i also tabbed the hell out of it because there was so much to discuss and pick apart. i cannot recommend this enough even though it is quite chunky and the writing is quite small, do yourself a favour and read this!! also would like to mention that this is more of a character study than plot-driven so if youre not into that you may not enjoy it. i want to reread this already because i liked it that much - probably one of my new favourite books ever!!
honestly i am so emotional right now i literally spent 15 minutes after the end page sobbing to my bf and now my eyeballs hurt and i have a headache. this was SO good.
following the story of a family and friends over generations looking at how drugs, art, AIDs and mental illness all intersect and affect these characters lives in different ways. this was so heartbreaking, and very hard to read at times. it features graphic drug use and sex and it definitely not easy to read. i was very down one day and i literally could not pick it up. HOWEVER onto the good stuff. the author does an amazing job of creating atmosphere and real emotion, and the characters are all tangible, they feel like real people and because its told through different perspectives the characters feel 3D and are all perceived differently by different people. the use of time jumps in the narrative is amazing and the way things are interwoven is incredible, the skill involved to do that is so difficult but it was executed so well. i loved how raw this felt, at times i hated characters and then the next page i would find more about them and really like them. the way this was written reminded me of michael cunningham's 'the hours' which is a book i really loved so it was nice to read this and make links between the two. my favourite character was milly - i related to her so much, and the ending made me fucking cry like a baby. i cannot wait to write my essay for uni about this book because i have so much to say and i also tabbed the hell out of it because there was so much to discuss and pick apart. i cannot recommend this enough even though it is quite chunky and the writing is quite small, do yourself a favour and read this!! also would like to mention that this is more of a character study than plot-driven so if youre not into that you may not enjoy it. i want to reread this already because i liked it that much - probably one of my new favourite books ever!!
Honestly? I wanted to like this, given the material and setting. But I just couldn't connect to the characters at all by chapter 5, and chapter 2 is PAINFULLY "white dude writing black teenagers" style.
I wanted this book to go on forever. Christodora is a novel spanning four decades of art, AIDS, activism, drugs, heartbreak and humanity in New York City (with some brief appearances of L.A.). I feel like I haven't read a novel that got me so invested in the characters in so long, and this book gripped me from the beginning and did just that.
Unexpected gem!
I loved everything about this book. I connected with this story the same way I did with other books like [b:A Little Life|22822858|A Little Life|Hanya Yanagihara|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1446469353s/22822858.jpg|42375710] and [b:The Nix|28251002|The Nix|Nathan Hill|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474083394s/28251002.jpg|48287604]. There are very few actual similarities between the stories in Christodora and the books I mentioned, but the way the narrative weaves through time to show the connections between people, and the tangible and sometimes painful way that relationships were portrayed on page was stunning in the same ways as these other reads. There are no heroes and villains here.... just lots of real people trying to do their bests.
This book is mostly set in New York and follows some extremely realistic characters as they journey through life and deal with issues such as the AIDS epidemic, attitudes toward homosexuality, women's issues, race, drug use and recovery, and adoption. Our characters are all from different times and backgrounds, and the story really shows how events can instantly affect many lives and the effects (trauma) can trickle down through time and have even more far-reaching impact.
I loved the characters, the writing, and the setting. I would definitely recommend this read.
I loved everything about this book. I connected with this story the same way I did with other books like [b:A Little Life|22822858|A Little Life|Hanya Yanagihara|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1446469353s/22822858.jpg|42375710] and [b:The Nix|28251002|The Nix|Nathan Hill|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474083394s/28251002.jpg|48287604]. There are very few actual similarities between the stories in Christodora and the books I mentioned, but the way the narrative weaves through time to show the connections between people, and the tangible and sometimes painful way that relationships were portrayed on page was stunning in the same ways as these other reads. There are no heroes and villains here.... just lots of real people trying to do their bests.
This book is mostly set in New York and follows some extremely realistic characters as they journey through life and deal with issues such as the AIDS epidemic, attitudes toward homosexuality, women's issues, race, drug use and recovery, and adoption. Our characters are all from different times and backgrounds, and the story really shows how events can instantly affect many lives and the effects (trauma) can trickle down through time and have even more far-reaching impact.
I loved the characters, the writing, and the setting. I would definitely recommend this read.
There aren't enough narratives featuring AIDS activism in New York in the 80s and 90s, especially ones centering people of color, women of color, queer people, et al. There was a lot of opportunity with this book, but not amazing writing, questionable word choice and repetition made it a 3 for me.