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abbie_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.0
I’ve been wanting to try Brontez Purnell’s later book 100 Boyfriends for a while, so when I spotted Since I Laid My Burden down on Everand, I jumped at it. It was exactly what I needed last week - short and gritty, fast paced and laced with humour, though veering into murkier territory than I perhaps expected.
It’s unflinchingly honest about growing up Black and queer and punk in the American south - religion and traditional values do not make this an easy life. The main character DeShawn recounts the various relationships he’s had with damaged men over his life, both familial and sexual, most of whom are now dead. The style is rough, raw and choppy - no frills and it suits the content perfectly.
Quick, brutal and desperately sad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual violence
ashar_allaire's review against another edition
2.0
Non spoiler review- I get it, and actually really liked most of it for its rawness and honesty, but one specific part was handled so poorly that, for me, it ruined the whole book.
I could not get past how they handled the final relationship, it really made me feel sick.
It wasn't because of descriptiveness, it was about how nonchalantly it was played and how they gave it no weight or resolution. Like I walked away feeling so disappointed, the insight was almost there but instead it just put the problem in front of us like "well that's just the way it is." I don't feel sympathy or understanding or insight at that point, it just loses me.
I've also seen a lot of queer books treat this topic too nonchalantly, like a fact of life, and a part of gay culture which I'm just so sick of. Gay people are more likely to be traumatized, childhood trauma leads to abusive behavior, but it's just not portrayed as abuse so much as an inevitability, which to me is just absurd and extremely insensitive. This book gave it slightly more nuance than I've seen in the past but still not nearly enough.
It doesn't need to be cut because it's a very real thing that happens, and something that should be talked about, but a simple acknowledgement of how horrible it was would have been SOMETHING. He's 33 and doesn't seem to even take a second to consider it might be wrong and continues like it's no big deal even after being confronted about it, like what? He didn't seem to lose all sense of right and wrong from trauma, like he knows enough to condemn the people who did it to him. I don't know it just didn't work for me.
It wasn't because of descriptiveness, it was about how nonchalantly it was played and how they gave it no weight or resolution. Like I walked away feeling so disappointed, the insight was almost there but instead it just put the problem in front of us like "well that's just the way it is." I don't feel sympathy or understanding or insight at that point, it just loses me.
I've also seen a lot of queer books treat this topic too nonchalantly, like a fact of life, and a part of gay culture which I'm just so sick of. Gay people are more likely to be traumatized, childhood trauma leads to abusive behavior, but it's just not portrayed as abuse so much as an inevitability, which to me is just absurd and extremely insensitive. This book gave it slightly more nuance than I've seen in the past but still not nearly enough.
It doesn't need to be cut because it's a very real thing that happens, and something that should be talked about, but a simple acknowledgement of how horrible it was would have been SOMETHING. He's 33 and doesn't seem to even take a second to consider it might be wrong and continues like it's no big deal even after being confronted about it, like what? He didn't seem to lose all sense of right and wrong from trauma, like he knows enough to condemn the people who did it to him. I don't know it just didn't work for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Death, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Classism and Drug abuse
beanwa's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Child abuse
Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, and Sexual violence
sarah984's review
reflective
fast-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
2.5
This was a pretty quick read and it's nice to read lgbtq+ fiction outside the super sanitized NA fluff that's popular online. Unfortunately I found the stream of consciousness memory hopping style a bit detached and disjointed and the child abuse content is a lot, especially since a lot of it is presented like it's a joke. There were some really great moments in this but it definitely won't be for everyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Death of parent, Homophobia, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, and Suicide
Minor: Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Car accident, Incest, Slavery, and Cancer
discotits's review
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Pedophilia
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