Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson

10 reviews

mirandalikesbooks's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative sad

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

3.75

I really liked this book! Trey, the POV character, is loveable in his flaws. You definitely end up rooting for him. I learned a lot about gay history and black history through the footnotes. I liked the footnotes and definitely missed them when I switched to the audiobook format!

My issue with the book is it feels as if some of the plot threads weren't fully fleshed out. I also think the ending was ABRUPT. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Violence, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Police brutality, and Alcohol

iseefirede's review

challenging emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A wonderful and informative read. I loved the footnotes with the history interwoven into the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

felishacb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Ableism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, and Alcohol

brynalexa's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective tense 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? No

3.75

I think I would have engaged more with this book in print. The story is great and it’s well researched but it came off a bit textbook-like at times. It didn’t quite feel wrapped up at the end, although the main character came into his own wonderfully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

naddl0r's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• 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'm giving this 5 stars because everything I’ve read was absolutely amazing BUT this book is in desperate need of an epilogue because it ends on a cliffhanger of the sorts where you feel like a chapter is missing. It’s so abrupt, the story just isn’t over. Also- and this is highly subjective- some might say it lacks a little bit of emotion. And I can see it but disagree. I think an overly emotional, gut- wrenching, hightlighting-the-sad-and terrible-parts-of-AIDS writing style would do this particular story no good. 
I loved this book and can see myself re-reading it at some point. Well done, Rasheed Newson! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

4.75

 

Review:

I normally resent fiction books that try to give me a history lesson (I’d much rather read a nonfiction book for that sort of thing, thank you very much), but I make an enthusiastic exception for My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the informative passages and footnotes on American history make sense within the conceit of the novel, which is that of a retrospective memoir written by a Black queer elder about his life as a gay man in New York City during the AIDS crisis. The second is that this history Newson interweaves these historical facts within a riveting story. My Government Means to Kill Me is a funny and heartfelt coming-of-age story, a political thriller, a queer history lesson, a mediation on political activism, and a devastating yet empowering portrait of the queer community during the AIDS epidemic, all incorporated seamlessly into a narrative of less than three hundred pages. I’ve never read anything quite like it. 

 

Newson juggles so many elements (and makes it look easy) in large part due to his excellent characterization. His main character, Trey Singleton, has a singular voice. Trey has flaws and personal struggles, but his strong moral compass, adaptability, and ability to make connections with strangers make him an extraordinarily likable main character. Besides Trey, the book is peppered with an array of colorful side characters, many of whom are so vividly described that I felt like I knew them. Through these characters, Newson makes history come alive: I felt simultaneously ineffable sorrow for the tragedy and malice that the queer community faced during the AIDS epidemic and immense admiration for those who resisted the attacks on their lives and their community. I could have read hundreds of more pages of My Government Means to Kill Me; Newson leaves a lot of aspects of Trey’s life open at the end of the book. I can’t complain, however, because I think that he ends the book at the exact right place for Trey’s coming-of-age story. 

 

Alas, I don’t think my review quite captures the brilliance of this book. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

 

 

The Run-Down: 

You will probably like My Government Means to Kill Me if . . . 

·      You are interested in a heartfelt and informative look into the AIDS crisis from the perspective of a young Black gay man living in New York City

·      You appreciate a well-written main character who learns a lot and grows as a person throughout the novel

·      You like to read books that balance tones of hope, tragedy, humor, adventure, and relatability

 

You might not like My Government Means to Kill Me if . . .

·      You want to avoid mentions or depictions of sex

·      You don’t like books that incorporate fictionalized versions of real historical figures

·      You like a book that wraps up all loose ends

 

A Similar Book: 

The Chinese Groove by Kathryn Ma. Similarities include:

·      A young main character who moves to a new place and assumes that this whole “life” thing will be a breeze, and subsequently experiences a lot of character growth

·      A unique and likable main character who uses their perceptiveness and pluck to make a positive difference in people’s lives

·      Strained familial relationships 

·      Colorful side-characters

·      A good mix of humor, heart, heaviness, and hard truths, with a tiny dash of thriller in the mix

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Abortion, and Outing

jayisreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

I have mixed feelings about this one. Newson did a wonderful job giving the reader a very personal look into the world of a young gay Black man in 1980s New York City during the AIDS epidemic. Woven into the story were footnotes explaining who certain individuals, organizations, etc. were to enrich your understanding of this time and situation. I really appreciated the distinctly Black perspective and learned a fair bit.

On that note, the book often read more as an opportunity for Newson to teach the reader than to experience a story, making things feel a bit labored at times. There were also some plot points that kind of floated around, most notably the story with Trey’s brother. I wasn’t entirely sure what Newson wanted to get out of this.

This novel is a great dive into queer history, and it’s clear that Newson took great care to do as much research as possible. However, as a fictional work, I felt that there was a lot left to be desired. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Lesbophobia

lvosler21's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Outing, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

dustghosts's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

• 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

4.0

A really interesting take on the fictional memoir, with all the best structural and pacing qualities of a contemporary novel. The narrator, Trey, is charming and likeable— but also messy and often wrong (which, fair, because he is a rotten youth). This is historical fiction that educates not just on a key portion of LGBTQ+ history in the US but also feels pertinent to social movements and activism of today. Newson paints a scene beautifully— I can picture the movie that this book would make (and he is a screenwriter, so that makes sense!). At times tempting to think that some of the perspectives feel a little outdated— but I think some of that is the point, and Trey is very actively growing before our eyes, anyway. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

moreadsnrambles's review

emotional hopeful informative reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book was very interesting and enjoyable to read! I loved the way the main character’s life was explored and depicted through his sort of past tense narration. I also really enjoyed the way the fictional aspects of the main character were mixed in with historical figures and movements. The book was profound at times with a few brief moments of comedy and a sense of queer-coming-of-age. As a Black queer person it was definitely both touching and disappointing to read different actions and responses on the part of different characters, and entities in the book(like the government and police) that are still true and poignant to today. All in all a wonderful read and a fantastic debut from Rasheed Newson.

Thanks to Rasheed Newson and Flat Iron Books for the ARC and the chance to review the book!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Racism, and Alcohol