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brynalexa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Grief, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Medical content, Rape, Terminal illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Homophobia, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child death, Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, and Stalking
jaynevam's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Transphobia, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Murder, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, and Violence
naddl0r's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this book and can see myself re-reading it at some point. Well done, Rasheed Newson!
Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Stalking, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Outing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Racism, Cancer, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Homophobia, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Terminal illness
srobertson's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Police brutality, and Racism
Moderate: Murder and Drug use
schopenhauers_poodle's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
It's trendy now to blend fiction and non-fiction, besides "My Government...", Labatut's "When We Cease to Understand the World" springs to mind. But where Labatut does something challenging and slightly more novel by fusing the two, Newsom's book feels like the work of an amateur. I'd describe "My Government Means to Kill Me" as bad fanfic.
The footnotes bog down the narrative and I found them completely unnecessary. This is spoon-feeding the reader to the point of ridiculousness. It lends a condescending faux-academic tone to the book. If you feel your fiction needs this much exposition, something has gone wrong.
Trey is an unlikeable narrator. He's a teenage know-it-all and the frequency with which he emerges in every moment of historical importance as the savior or genius starts to become comedic. He's like an incredibly unlikeable, gay Forrest Gump. He also characterizes any unmarried woman over 30 as a lesbian which is vaguely misogynistic. So when we're introduced to his tragic background it's impossible to feel much for him or for that lore to expand the depth of his character. Additionally, the other characters feel very flat contributing to that bad fanfic feeling.
Adding to the patronizing tone of the novel is that each chapter is framed and titled as a "lesson." Each moral lesson is then neatly tied up at the end like an episode of a tv show, perhaps belying the author's profession as a tv writer. It’s Aesop's tales for baby queers.
As noted by others, despite Trey posturing as some kind of radical, it is completely at odds with the political sentiments expressed in "My Government...." which is dripping in liberalism. Trey laments that he simply didn't vote enough in elections! The (frequently wrong) footnotes describe the BPP's legacy as tainted by radicalism! Nonviolence is the highest, noblest form of protest! It feels very targeted towards a specific type of affluent liberal.
The writing is also not very good. On encountering someone only deceased for a few hours, Trey astutely remarks "He looked so lifelike." He just died? What else is he supposed to look like? An extra from a Romero zombie film? Another closing sentence to a passage was pulled from the clichés of tv writing:
A risky idea occurred to me, and I bolted from the table, yelling, "I'll call you and explain later!"
End scene. I actually found myself laughing.
If you need an introduction to queer history and the LGBTQIA+ movement in the US, make it something else.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Murder, Violence, and Death
jkamler's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Homophobia, Medical content, Violence, Police brutality, Death, Child death, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Outing, Racism, and Terminal illness
anxiousnachos's review
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Police brutality, Pandemic/Epidemic, Hate crime, Sexual content, and Murder