Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

25 reviews

mr_cain's review against another edition

4.75

All too real. Rips your heart in two and forces you to confront how you exist in the world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Grief, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse

Moderate: Infidelity, Homophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Eating disorder, Drug use, and Body shaming

celinbean's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Wallace truly is the og traumatized pathological people pleaser and it was a little heartbreaking to read his responses. All of this was honestly a lot to take in. This felt like a character study with wallace as the very observant narrator to whom no detail was too small but who also turned inward a lot to inspect his feelings. But despite that inward look i feel like we just reached the acknowledgement stage of his grief and trauma. 

The whole friend group actually gave me anxiety bc they were all so mean and almost indifferent to each others feelings? And unwilling to actually try to understand each other? I also wanted to root for miller so much but the ending was not… entirely satisfying with what he did. I would’ve liked it if wallace actually found someone who’s gentle and who stands up for him but i guess i would’ve had to read a romance book if i wanted a true happy ending 🥲

Nevertheless this was such an addictive read that was wholly unexpected because ive been in a kind of slump where ive only really been reading/ listening to audiobooks. I quite literally could not stop reading and that hasn’t happened for me in a while. The prose was stunningly beautiful.

TW: rape of a child, sexual assault of a child, racism, disordered eating + vomiting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Vomit, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Infidelity

Minor: Racial slurs

jcinf's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

I have a tough time rating this one. 

First, I appreciated the portrayal of tokenism and racism in LGBTQ+ spaces. 

Two things I had mixed feelings toward (I promise no spoilers):

1. Wallace’s friend group felt “meh” at best. I get that the author probably wanted to portray Wallace as being an outcast in his group. I know that’s the core part of the narrative here. ** BUT, I couldn’t tell… was Wallace having a hard time reconciling his friends’ problematic qualities against their redeemable traits? Or were they just shitty people that he became “friends” with solely out of proximity? It was well written, but I would have appreciated more clarity on this. 
2. Wallace’s dynamic with another character in the book. I won’t say who so I don’t spoil it. It’s hard for authors to walk the line between glorifying abuse and simply portraying it. I think in large pet he just portrayed in, but in certain parts I felt like it was getting perhaps a little close to romanticizing it. The second to last chapter brought those feelings up for me. 

Overall, though, I felt largely positively about this book. A handful of the things I liked:

1. The descriptiveness was stunning.  
2. The dialogue was realistic and appropriately emotional. 
3. The depiction of nuanced grief and the way some people try to simplify it.
4. This one is a loose spoiler as far as character growth, but doesn’t reveal any specific plot points.
   The acknowledgment that Wallace can be self-absorbed. Butttt also giving him wiggle room to be that way because of his intersecting struggles due to his sexuality, race, economic class, and generally feeling behind in his academics.
   . 

As a whole, this book was wonderfully written. But it wasn’t really an enjoyable read because it was so damn sad lol. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Body horror, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Racism

jennaclarek's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

okay so either i am bad at reading summaries (likely) or nobody had the foresight to tell me this is apart of the "toxic friendgroups who are all a little in love with each other but also hate each other" universe (less likely)...because holy cow i wasn't expecting this powerhouse. immediately from the get go i was compelled by the writing, the characters, and the overall tone of this book. it's so well written, the prose is just breathtaking, and i really will need to pick it up again to underline all the fantastic passages in here. it touches on so many of my favorite things - academia, the complexities of queer friendship, grief...

this is a very dark book - it touches on some heavy topics, and overall there aren't a lot of positive scenes. it has flickers of light throughout, but a lot of it is unfair and a little hopeless and incredibly frustrating. but i think it's such a fantastic book because brandon taylor does not shy away from the darkness. the whole point of the book IS the darkness. that real life is like this. it's messy and chaotic and white people do ruin everything and sometimes "i'm sorry" isn't good enough, it's never good enough, but we all just walk around lying to each other saying we're fine and that's fine.

i don't have anything innovative to say! it's just a damn good book! and i will be revisiting in the future because it has so much incredible prose and the Point is Poignant. i could not put it down. i will be thinking about it for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Racism, Rape, Blood, Gaslighting, Cursing, Death of parent, and Vomit

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Racism, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Rape, and Vomit

Moderate: Racial slurs, Eating disorder, and Homophobia

Minor: Infidelity

mourtarymaggots's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

kers_tin's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Grief, Sexual content, Homophobia, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Body shaming

Minor: Misogyny and Suicidal thoughts

bookwrm526's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Grief, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Racism, Homophobia, Sexual violence, and Infidelity

hollieadaw's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Abandonment

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

real life is an introspective, melancholically realistic read that's startlingly sublime and nuanced, and i quite liked it up until towards the end where my enjoyment unfortunately wanes for a few reasons.

this book masterfully captures the bone-deep exhaustion of a queer black man navigating adulthood who's been through - is still going through - a lot of shit, and flays open the world's bullshit for all to see. taylor offers a deep, skeptical exploration of the world of academia - and by extension the main character wallace's escape of his source of trauma - and asks: is this real life, a life spent in labs, cocooned from the outside world? is staying in one's comfort zone truly better than taking one's chances in harsh reality?

i enjoy the illustration of subtle maneuvering and socializing as well, how a person - specifically someone deemed a minority or different - has to be sacrified for the comfort of the greater group around both the literal and proverbial table. the microaggressions and sometimes overt racism endured by wallace are scream-inducing and infuriating, once again shedding light on the reality of black folks and how white ppl gonna white ppl, even the supposedly 'good' ones. most of the characters are also nuanced and multidimensional.

however, i find the writing to be a lil stiff at times esp in the beginning. the long soliloquys on birds and the like - even though i kinda get their symbolic significance - also annoy me, as they sometimes seem too out-of-the-blue and affect the pacing.

nevertheless, my personal dislike of the lack of character growth is what most affects the book's overall rating towards the end. i respect the author's decision and am aware that it'd be unrealistic for wallace to significantly develop or change in some way w/in the period of one friggin weekend. what bothers me actually isnt the lack of character development but the character's unwillingness to change - maybe even overt avoidance or active decision to self-destruct - despite being aware of his own faults, though to be fair it's perhaps a result of his trauma and family conditioning. still, too much has happened for there to not be any change, yet awareness might be the first step towards it. 

overall, this is a novel that subtly yet powerfully explores its themes, main character, and the world around him, esp in regards to racism and mental illness, though i personally would've liked more subtle interspersing of symbolism and more character development.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Rape, Toxic friendship, Violence, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Animal death, and Homophobia

Minor: Vomit, Abandonment, and Cancer