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alexandra296's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
There’s very little plot, largely a reflection on self and family, relationships, trauma etc. The lack of a strong plot through-line didn’t affect my enjoyment, especially because the writing is such expertly crafted poetry.
We follow Little Dog and his mother and grandmother who are immigrants to the US, which were compelling characters and also explore his relationship with Trevor. The characters are all complicated people and the dynamics between them and the narrator were definitely interesting.
Gorgeous imagery and structure, great use of motifs & juxtaposing 2 ideas that seem unrelated but are making a statement. The way people in Little Dog’s life are portrayed is at once tender & with deep pain. The language is beautiful though, so captivating. A very sad, melancholy type story but it’s so beautiful. Very reflective but brutal in parts. Definitely worth reading though, as long as you’re not looking for a distinct plot.
Only negative is I feel the tone got kinda almost TOO sad towards the third part and it felt a little tonally separate from the rest of the work to me in some areas. I guess with any body of work some parts work better than others though.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Drug use, and Grief
Moderate: Bullying and Homophobia
brookiet1220's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Homophobia and War
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse
kimisaboss123's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Addiction and Drug abuse
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Grief, and War
Minor: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Car accident, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
ennsez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, Suicide, and Terminal illness
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
rachelfazio's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, and War
idk_indigo's review
- 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
2.0
That being said, I don't really think this is for me... it honestly felt a bit like trauma porn at times, which is probably an unfair thing of me to say because I understand that an entire facet of poetry is making tragedy beautiful (/s), but I found myself almost wanting to roll my eyes at times. Idk. Also, I know this is coming from the perspective of written correspondence, and that definitely changes how a person talks about themselves/their experiences/reality, but I genuinely just got very sick of the main character, Little Dog. And towards the end, the poetry-as-prose format got very old for me. There's not anything specifically wrong with it, per se, I just didn't like it. I think maybe it would've held up better if it was shorter, but I'm almost like there's a reason why poems are short.
I may read something else from the author, maybe some of his poetry, because the content of this book was super interesting to me. I think I would have liked this better had I been in a different mood, but I am not, so... 2 stars.
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and War
tessa52's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Dementia, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and War
ewillreadit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and War
mdavis26's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War
kjofalltrades's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Xenophobia, and War
Minor: Excrement and Vomit