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ellagrim's review
1.0
One of the worst books I've read in a long time. It was just boring. I read it for work not for fun lol.
lindsayhotrod's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed this book for its main nuanced, sometimes surprising, main characters, and some lovely phrasing. Even though this may not appear funny to most people, I marked it such because there were some lines and turns of phrases that I found really clever that had me laugh out loud in surprise. Two narrators voicing two very different characters about a man they both know in very, very different ways who is a little bit of cipher. 80s AIDS era is a central plot point, bouncing to present day between the two narrators. AIDS specifically is not one of the content warning categories, so explicitly, those are what the epidemic/pandemic and terminal illness graphic content warnings I gave it refer to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Death, Mass/school shootings, Outing, Classism, Violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Homophobia
Minor: Fatphobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Infidelity, Incest, and Suicide
sweddy65's review
2.0
This book was well written. If it weren't for Part III, I would have thought it was a fine book.
But, Part III, largely centered around the AIDS crisis? That ruined it for me.
I understand about fiction. I understand that novelists often write about things that they didn't experience themselves. I believe duBois did her research. But. But, she got it wrong. She got it wrong to the point where I wondered if none of the editors at Random House had been alive and present during the worst of the AIDS crisis in this country. It seems someone should have stepped in and said: "Try again. Skip the lists. Try again."
duBois tried for poignancy and failed. It was a version of imagined poignancy, but it missed the points that made the 1980s so painful in ways that are still raw for those of us who were witness.
But, Part III, largely centered around the AIDS crisis? That ruined it for me.
I understand about fiction. I understand that novelists often write about things that they didn't experience themselves. I believe duBois did her research. But. But, she got it wrong. She got it wrong to the point where I wondered if none of the editors at Random House had been alive and present during the worst of the AIDS crisis in this country. It seems someone should have stepped in and said: "Try again. Skip the lists. Try again."
duBois tried for poignancy and failed. It was a version of imagined poignancy, but it missed the points that made the 1980s so painful in ways that are still raw for those of us who were witness.
anitaofplaybooktag's review
2.0
As a fan of [b:Cartwheel|17857661|Cartwheel|Jennifer duBois|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375820584s/17857661.jpg|24998893], I was very excited to see a new title from Jennifer duBois. At the center of the novel is Matthew Miller, a gay NYC attorney turned Maury Povitch style talk show host. In alternating chapters, we hear from Semi, a playwright and Mattie's former lover, and Cel, a pr flak for the Mattie M show. Matthew's earlier life, before and during the AID epidemic is seen through Semi's point of view. In the present, as seen through Cel's world, Matthew's television show is at the center of a huge news story about a Columbine style shooting by two teenage boys.
To say this book took on a lot would be an understatement. It attempts to tackle the AIDS epidemic AND the coarsening of American culture and tie them together through these three characters. For me, it didn't really work. The storyline narrated by Semi that addresses the AIDS epidemic was far superior, and I think this book could have been so much better had it maintained that singular focus. Chapter 19 was beautifully written, and I think it represents what duBois can really do with her writing. She has an incredible vocabularly and can write in a poetic, but very fresh, way that makes you really think. This book doesn't spoon feed the reader a thing, and in some ways that is very intellectually stimulating.
Unfortunately, the portion of the story about the shooting, the blaming of the show, and Cel's attempt to handle it, was very dull. None of the three characters is really as fully developed as they need to be to stir empathy in the reader, but Cel's was the one that seemed especially flat.
If only the book had tightened its focus and kept it squarely on gay life in NYC and the devastation of the AIDS epidemic, it could have been something more special. If all the chapters were like chapter 19, it would have been a five star read for me.
To say this book took on a lot would be an understatement. It attempts to tackle the AIDS epidemic AND the coarsening of American culture and tie them together through these three characters. For me, it didn't really work. The storyline narrated by Semi that addresses the AIDS epidemic was far superior, and I think this book could have been so much better had it maintained that singular focus. Chapter 19 was beautifully written, and I think it represents what duBois can really do with her writing. She has an incredible vocabularly and can write in a poetic, but very fresh, way that makes you really think. This book doesn't spoon feed the reader a thing, and in some ways that is very intellectually stimulating.
Unfortunately, the portion of the story about the shooting, the blaming of the show, and Cel's attempt to handle it, was very dull. None of the three characters is really as fully developed as they need to be to stir empathy in the reader, but Cel's was the one that seemed especially flat.
If only the book had tightened its focus and kept it squarely on gay life in NYC and the devastation of the AIDS epidemic, it could have been something more special. If all the chapters were like chapter 19, it would have been a five star read for me.
lola425's review
4.0
Read in prepub. Due out April 2019.
Really liked this book. Juxtaposes the gay liberation years (and the looming AIDS crisis) against the halcyon days of trashtalk TV to perfect effect. The book examines the way secrets can either destroy you outright or eat away at you to the same effect; the difference between having ideals and actually acting on those ideals; guns and who is responsible for gun violence; and much more.
Would be a great book for book groups. While you're waiting for this book to come out, I would recommend her last book, Cartwheel about a foreign exchange student in Buenos Aires accused of murder.
Really liked this book. Juxtaposes the gay liberation years (and the looming AIDS crisis) against the halcyon days of trashtalk TV to perfect effect. The book examines the way secrets can either destroy you outright or eat away at you to the same effect; the difference between having ideals and actually acting on those ideals; guns and who is responsible for gun violence; and much more.
Would be a great book for book groups. While you're waiting for this book to come out, I would recommend her last book, Cartwheel about a foreign exchange student in Buenos Aires accused of murder.
toryhallelujah's review
4.0
Dang, check the vocabulary on this one! Imagine that Jerry Springer was actually a brilliant, nuanced individual with a background in law and gay rights. Stick him in the AIDS crisis. Enter school shootings. Shake until well-mixed and then serve onstage in an off-Broadway production. Really good, moving, entertaining, profound.
susanm_82's review
4.0
Picked this one up from the library for a recent plane trip and enjoyed it quite a bit. It was especially great for travel because of the structure. The story bounced back and forth between two narratives that centered around the main character but you never quite hear anything from the main characters point of view which was interesting and sort of belied the idea that this character was hard to know (not a spoiler) and the main theme of spectating. It doesn’t come off heavy handed though while you’re reading it but does sort of stick with you afterwards.
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ellenrhudy's review
4.0
This novel surprised me—apart from duBois’s occasional fondness for SAT words, the writing felt propulsive—especially when the AIDS crisis enters the story, there’s the sense of life unfurling faster than it can really be observed. Cel never quite came into view for me, even when she seems to be finding herself and becoming more defined she feels vaguely drawn, but I think that’s in part so Mattie himself feels more distinct.
eillo's review
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
4.5
dobeesquared's review
4.0
Between 3 and 4 stars. Gradually pulled me in...a fast read and ultimately absorbing. Some aspects of the characterization seemed somewhere between sterotypical and predictable to me, but in the end the novel was more of a portrait than attempt to come to a precise ending point or to make a specific big "point" and that was a relief.