Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

225 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

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

krobart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Racism and Rape

mckinleyj's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

“Smells of beer and sweat”, “smells like beer and sweat”, “smelled like sweat and beer”… WE GET IT, everything smells like sweat and beer in this book. I truly wish I liked this book more. I thought I would. It feels like I should in theory. I want to feel bad for Wallace, and I did at least a little throughout the whole book—though my sympathy and empathy slowly ran out as I read—, and feel as though Taylor wants the reader to, but it’s hard to not feel as though many of Wallace’s current problems are almost entirely his fault. Yes, he has experienced horrific trauma and is in a less than hospitable environment, but I don’t know if there is a single instance in the book where he makes a choice that doesn’t cause himself and nearly everyone around him further harm. And again yes, this is likely a result of the things he has been through, but at some point personal responsibility has to come into play. I wish I felt worse for him, but Wallace is self centered, pretentious, rude, self righteous, and thinks of himself as the only person in the world who has ever experienced any kind of negative emotion or event (again despite causing more than his fair share of harm in other people’s lives). The least likable main character I have read in a good while. The writing is a weird mix—great at times; unimaginative, abrasively repetitive, and self appreciating at others. I have no doubt Taylor is an extremely talented writer but I can’t shake the feeling that he’s almost trying too hard here, attempting to write in a style that isn’t exactly his. The novel attempts to discuss the lasting impacts and trauma of a variety of horrible experiences—sometimes successfully and sometimes bordering on trauma porn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism, Violence, Homophobia, and Racial slurs

Minor: Sexism

xosirenox's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Racial slurs, and Racism

qtree's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Vomit, Racism, Racial slurs, and Homophobia

Moderate: Death of parent

reidfrancis's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent and Eating disorder

_puberty2's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

This is a beautiful piece of prose, especially for a debut novel. I blew through it in 3 days and was genuinely glued to the story. I just want to hug Wallace and be a friend to him that will treat him like an actual person, Brigit was the only real one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Physical abuse, and Hate crime

Moderate: Eating disorder and Body shaming

ebauer10's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Sexual assault

moonbabe_'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Homophobia, and Sexual assault