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sweetbeetle's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
libbydibbles's review against another edition
Heartbreaking and mesmerizing storytelling. I couldn't put it down.
dhopkin1's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
katrod's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Oof. This one hits right in the gut, especially when you read what Sickel’s inspiration for this story was. I was born as the AIDS crisis was calming down, but I do remember it being a huge topic of conversation. I will never truly know just how devastatingly horrifying it was to live among that fear and hatred, but this book brings the reader pretty close to that understanding. It is such an intimate portrayal of life, death, fear, belonging, and acceptance. It’s a story I’ll feel the impact of for my whole life.
cmcclure9's review against another edition
5.0
This was a devastating, raw, emotional read. Told from the viewpoints of various family members, is the story of a young man coming back to his midwestern small town with AIDS after living in New York. It's a haunting story of that time in history and what young men faced all over this country.
dl_0915's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
4.0
An absolutely heartbreaking story about Brian, a young gay man dying from AIDS who returns to his home and family in small town Ohio only to be faced with a great deal of homophobia, fear and hatred.
Set at the height of the AIDS crisis in the late 80s, this story is utterly moving and will wrench your heart out as his family has to watch Brian wasting away before their very eyes. I loved that the story switched POVs from different members of his family and we get to see how each of them dealt differently with their son's sexuality and HIV status.
Great on audio and highly recommended. It's been on my tbr sooooo long and I'm glad I finally took the time to listen to it. An unforgettable story to be sure and perfect for fans of the YA novel, Like a love story by Abdi Nazemian.
Set at the height of the AIDS crisis in the late 80s, this story is utterly moving and will wrench your heart out as his family has to watch Brian wasting away before their very eyes. I loved that the story switched POVs from different members of his family and we get to see how each of them dealt differently with their son's sexuality and HIV status.
Great on audio and highly recommended. It's been on my tbr sooooo long and I'm glad I finally took the time to listen to it. An unforgettable story to be sure and perfect for fans of the YA novel, Like a love story by Abdi Nazemian.
freddie's review
5.0
A simple story but intimately heartbreaking. I'm always crazy about books that combine grief and guilt.
katscribefever's review against another edition
3.0
This is the story of Brian, a fictional young man created to represent a very real group of people from America's recent past: young gay men with a passion for life who were afflicted with, and subsequently killed by, AIDS. This is a story filled with scenes from a world before Princess Di made waves by hugging sufferers of HIV. It is a world filled with forced removals, harsh condemnation, and staggering cruelty towards the unknown "other." And it is a story that inevitably sparks honest self-evaluation: if you were a resident of Brian's hometown in the 1980s, would you have extended him friendship and compassion as he lay waiting to die? Or would you have shunned and maligned him for his choices?
This was a tough listen, but I do think hearing it may be preferable to a text copy; a big part of Brian's story is the video diary he makes about his experience, and an audiobook allows the reader to hear what he sounds like in his own voice. The downside, though, is that there are two female characters whose points of view are shared, and they are each voiced by the same woman, making it at times tricky to distinguish between the two. Having said all of that, I would still recommend picking up the audio rather than the physical!
This was a tough listen, but I do think hearing it may be preferable to a text copy; a big part of Brian's story is the video diary he makes about his experience, and an audiobook allows the reader to hear what he sounds like in his own voice. The downside, though, is that there are two female characters whose points of view are shared, and they are each voiced by the same woman, making it at times tricky to distinguish between the two. Having said all of that, I would still recommend picking up the audio rather than the physical!