Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks

13 reviews

badbadwolf's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Terminal illness

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Misogyny, Homophobia, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Alcohol, Abandonment, Car accident, Child abuse, Bullying, Grief, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

bumblemee's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

[I hope this review is readable, I'm writing it way past my bedtime, but had to write it down before I can go to sleep.]

This book will stay with me forever, I think. And with it the names and stories of many men it tells you about, as well as Ruth herself. 

I don't even know how to find the right words for this book. I'll start by saying that Ruth is a very impressive person. She just keeps going and going and going, she just does not stop, no matter the obstacles she's presented with. She's really good at reading people and finding out how to approach them - no matter if it's someone whose help she needs or people she wants to inform about safer sex practices when she knows they won't to listen if she doesn't do it right. Her resourcefulness had me stunned more than once.

As someone who wasn't alive during the events of this book, it feels like it's very good at transporting the reader to that time period. - I watched an interview with Ruth on YouTube and she said she thinks people are thankful that she's sort of a vessel for the stories of people that would've been forgotton without her. This is very true for me. I am thankful she let Kevin Carr O'Leary into her life/memories and write them down, because this was an important read for me and I think it is for others, too.

There's a lot of pain within these pages, it hurt a lot to read this book. The way Ruth and especially her guys (as she calls them) were treated was brutal. I know this was the reality then and it therefore didn't shock me, but that didn't take away any of the anger and rage it made me feel. Or any of the sadness. This book made me cry within the first 15 pages and a few times after that. - Because of the contens, of course, but also because the words that transported said contents.
The writing style feels just so appropriate, the voice is so clear. It has beautiful words, but it doesn't sugarcoat anything. Sometimes tragic things are delivered within a short sentence, somewhere among all the other sentences, which makes so much sense, because this new tragic thing was normality for Ruth, it happened all of the time. But this kind of writing does not take away any of the impact, instead adding to it in my opinion.
It isn't all sad though. There's also wholesome moments, drag shows and people with a lot of love for one another. Also, Ruth has a lot of wit and her voice can be very entertaining.

I liked how you get to know different individuals better and how all of them were treated with a lot of love. You get to know them trough Ruth's eyes and can tell how special each of them was, which is why I said in the beginning of this review that some of the names will stay with me. 

All in all I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn something about these years of the epidemic in the USA and how it impacted the queer community. In my opinion this book is written with a lot of care. I must say though that it isn't an easy read, at least to me it really wasn't. I would recommend to read this when you're in a good headspace.

Oh, one last thing: This book centers on Ruth and her work and while it does deal with political issues, it doesn't go beyond Ruth's life and perspective. So if you want there to be a broader context and reflection on "the bigger picture", this isn't really the book for you as it stays very personal. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Drug abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Suicide

Minor: Car accident

shamelesslyash's review against another edition

challenging emotional

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Domestic abuse, Blood, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Drug abuse, Car accident, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, and Hate crime

ellievelazquez's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

wow, wow, wow!!!! i will think of this book forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Homophobia, Death, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Car accident

karac15's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Car accident, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Cancer, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide attempt

helloits_jen's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

This was a pick for my book club and I’m so glad it was as I never would have picked it up otherwise! As someone who was born in the late 90s, the AIDS epidemic is something that is so foreign to me that I struggle to picture what it was actually like to live through. My heart broke over and over again for these men and it’s scary to think how recent this was happening. More than anything, that’s what I took away from the book - an eye opening story of what it was actually like. I really liked the way it was written - it seemed more fast paced than some non-fiction books - and I’m glad I took this opportunity to read about Ruth’s work and how heartbreakingly sad the lives of men were at that time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Hate crime, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Medical content, Xenophobia, Vomit, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Grief, Excrement, Death, Chronic illness, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, and Religious bigotry

questingnotcoasting's review

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

This is a fascinating and heart-breaking memoir. It's written in a conversational way which is very readable and really pulled me into the narrative. There were a few moments which felt like they'd been heightened for dramatic effect, like Ruth having a perfect comeback before leaving a room. However generally I thought the writing style worked well and the inclusion of so many personal anecdotes helped give a real sense of the people she knew. The subject matter makes it a tough read at times but her sense of humour also comes through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death, Car accident, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

bexh's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Violence

raelemkesprung's review

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

house_of_hannah's review

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

This book just grips your heart, and does not let go. It is absolutely horrible how human beings can treat each other, and the tears wanted to come within the first few chapters. Being bisexual, and in love with the drag community, I've heard stories of those people lost to HIV. However, I never truly realized how damning the situation was, and how terrible the public response was. It's just so heartbreaking.

The only issue I have with this book is the way the chapters are setup. Often there would be a complete scene change that would confuse me for a few sentences before I realized what was going on. Sometimes it just didn't feel like we were done talking with one person before a different situation was being talked about.

I 100% believe everyone needs to read this book. It will open your eyes to some of the horrors of life, but also it's love, compassion, and determination. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Suicide attempt

Minor: Blood, Car accident, and Drug abuse