Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Erasure by Percival Everett

5 reviews

f6x's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The heartbreakingly real travails of an American family shimmer vividly against this backdrop of satire, perception, and social commentary. A remarkable journey.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Excrement, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Murder, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Violence, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Gun violence, and Sexual assault

carriepond's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Erasure is the best thing I've read this year. It is hilarious, biting satire, which I expected, but also a tender and moving portrait of a middle-aged man as he grapples with grief, family drama, and his mother's advancing Alzheimer's.

For those unfamiliar, Erasure is the novel on which the movie American Fiction is based. Its recent adaption makes sense; although it was written in 2001, the book's critique of what books by Black authors are published and marketed and how they are consumed by a largely white audience is just as relevant in 2024 as it was in 2001. And there are so many layers to the book's critiques about race, class, and art that not even our main character, Thelonius "Monk" Ellison, is safe from Everett's skewering.

I laughed so much during this book, but I was also blown away by it. This book is way smarter than I am, which I mean in the best way-- it doesn't feel pretentious, it doesn't try to be smarter-- it just is smart in a way that made me want to live in Everett's mind to move even a couple notches closer to his level. I wish I had read this with a book club because there is so much I admire that I want to talk with others about, and I know it would help me get even more out of it through the collective wisdom that comes with reading in community with others.

Highly recommend this book. It is awesome, and I am absolutely going to read more books by Percival Everett.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Dementia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Suicide and Homophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent

queenoftheharpies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Listened to the audiobook. Just a heads up the novel within the novel is difficult to get through - and long. It was about an hour in the audiobook. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Dementia, Suicide, Racism, Rape, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Hate crime, and Sexual assault

tofufun's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Murder, and Racism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

kmustapha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Gun violence

Minor: Suicide