Reviews

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

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kdahlo's review

4.0

If you have seen Paris is Burning (if you haven't, probably you should) this is a retelling, an attempt to get inside the heads of some of the people at the center of that story. At times it gets very grim, and I felt some fear that spinning out the details of their tragedies wasn't the right way to honor them. The writing is beautiful, if brutal, and I think it does manage to capture some of the beauty and meaning to it all, even while it sticks to the gruesome details. The voices feel real, and it's easy to get lost in. Really, I think I understand the why the author wrote this book, because I saw Paris is burning, I read the stubs on Wikipedia about each person in the film and I wanted more, but there isn't more. So I get the need to make more, to live with these people a little longer. I don't know if it's okay, I think maybe it isn't. But I get it. And the book is beautiful.

kprocopio's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

rubyfruit's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

3.75

When I was 40 pages in, I could already tell this book was gonna break me. I don't think I've ever cried this much with any other book. I LOVED the first part of the story and the plot surrounding the character of Angel, I think it was beautifully sad. HOWEVER, I HATED the last bit about Daniel and Juanito, and the descriptions of sexual assault were just too much and too graphic for me, which (even if I understand why they may have been included) stopped me from fully enjoying this novel.

arandomtree347's review

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This is my favorite book of all time. It will be forever. Do yourself a favor, if you have a TBR, ignore it for this book.

grosswitch's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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? Yes

3.75

l_mell's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.5

wishfulfillment's review

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Putting this aside at 11% to read during a week when I have a little bit more time to focus on it, maybe during a vacation week off from work. Stay tuned! So far I have positive things to say about it!