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yourbookishbff's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Most unsettling in this retelling is the complete absence of one of our love interests until the final 40-50 pages. We suspect from the start that the inciting incident is related to a potential love affair between Pájaro and Marciano's younger brother, Ángelito, but Ángelito is only tangentially present in a handful of scenes and is only shown through the perspectives of Marciano or Pájaro. In reading other reviews, I would note that readers should not expect an on-page queer romance between these two - their romance is largely off-page, aside from a few frenetic encounters - and is not centered in the narrative. In decentering the romance, Almada emphasizes that the real crux of the story is the generational trauma of toxic masculinity and patriarchal traditions that nurture homophobia, physical and sexual abuse, addiction and more.
This is a tough story to read, and the lack of chapter headings in the English translation of the e-book added to the numerous challenges of the narrative, but it's a story that is richer for its complexity, and I look forward to reading more from Almada.
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Outing
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Drug use
uhm_kai's review
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Murder, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
menomica's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Pero la puta madre, cómo chillan las sillas vacías. Cuando esto está lleno, con la música, ni se nota.
Joder cuánto mate había en este libro.
Yo creo que un resumen más apto para este libro que he visto sería que es la historia de dos hombres rivalizando como niños por años y luego pasan ese revalidad a sus hijos.
Creo que el único personaje macho que me gustó de este libro fue Angelito, que se quedaba a lo suyo y simplemente se enamoró de un chico un poco looser.
Todos los hombres de este libro eran algún tipo de cabezón, y creo que eso fue a propósito, como para mostrar como la ignorancia y el machismo causan tantos problemas (creo que todos los problemas que surgieron de este libro fueron a causa del ego de un hombre o múltiples).
Después de todo me ha gustado este libro, aunque a veces me costó entenderlo debido a que tuvo tantos argentinismos, y yo claramente no soy argentino
Un día pienso volver y releer este libro, que seguramente hay muchas cosas que fallé o no capté como debería
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Blood
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Violence, and Homophobia
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Animal death
Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Animal cruelty
srm's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Homophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Sexual content
Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
internationalreads's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, Outing, Sexual content, and Violence
abbie_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Another brilliant offering from Selva Almada, Charco Press and translator Annie McDermott. Brickmakers starts out with two young men lying in a deserted fairground, both suffering fatal injuries from a knife fight. As the story progresses, we learn how they got there, which includes a feud between fathers and an illicit love between two young men.
Graphic: Homophobia, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Violence, and Murder