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xenamollie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
this was really not my fav, but i also kind of couldn’t put it down (in a not so enjoyable can’t-look-away way). i can’t decide if the characters felt well developed or not — the absolutely excessive over thinking sort of tricked me into thinking yes, but on reflection i don’t feel like i have a grasp on the characters at all — but even that feels intentional, like the main character expends so so so much energy on overthinking himself and others and yet all he has to show for it in the end is these bits and pieces of understanding.
it was a really tragic story but not without a tinge of optimism (or maybe i just imposed that on it so i could finish the book without feeling like absolute shit?). i wasn’t sure what to make of the interpersonal violence or what the intention was or what i was supposed to think of it. i guess all i can say was it made me wildly uncomfortable, which clearly was part of the point but definitely not the whole point. definitely feel like i was missing something.
biggest pet peeve with this book was it’s very important to me to be able to track where people/things are in space, and it was so difficult for me to do that throughout. i just felt like the descriptions of scene/setting/movement were extremely confusing and i very often could not follow, and it didn’t particularly strike me as intentional, so that really didn’t work for me.
it was a really tragic story but not without a tinge of optimism (or maybe i just imposed that on it so i could finish the book without feeling like absolute shit?). i wasn’t sure what to make of the interpersonal violence or what the intention was or what i was supposed to think of it. i guess all i can say was it made me wildly uncomfortable, which clearly was part of the point but definitely not the whole point. definitely feel like i was missing something.
biggest pet peeve with this book was it’s very important to me to be able to track where people/things are in space, and it was so difficult for me to do that throughout. i just felt like the descriptions of scene/setting/movement were extremely confusing and i very often could not follow, and it didn’t particularly strike me as intentional, so that really didn’t work for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Vomit, Racism, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Self harm
samarakroeger's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.25
Christopher Isherwood meets Transcendent Kingdom meets Bryan Washington (???) -- I'm doing that thing again where I end up picking up books that are pretty different on the surface but end up covering very similar themes/topics or have similar tones. Real Life takes place over a very short time period and deals with queerness, otherness, and grief like A Single Man, and the coldness of the tone is almost dissociative, like Isherwood. It also has a similar setting to Transcendent Kingdom (Black grad student from Alabama studying STEM at a PWI) and for some reason I can't quite place Brandon Taylor's writing reminds me of Bryan Washington. Both Memorial and Real Life fail to show a single healthy relationship and both have "unsatisfying" endings (which I personally appreciate). If you liked any of these elements in other books, you might really like Real Life.
Real Life honestly sometimes felt a little too real, certainly very raw and almost dejected. I'm glad I didn't read this while I was struggling to slog through my STEM degree and frequently felt like I didn't belong there. The Imposter Syndrome vibes are very very strong and honestly is a bit of a trigger warning if that would hit too close to home at the moment. If you're feeling very lonely and lost in the world, proceed with caution. I felt it perfectly captured the Midwestern microaggression flavor and casual racism/sexism/homophobia in a place that is "proud of being woke and liberal" but is still overwhelmingly white. Also, the frustration of advisor favoritism.
The writing style veered a little too close to purple prose for me at times. However, given that Taylor wrote this in a matter of weeks (!!!), I think its solid foundation could have benefitted from just a bit more editing.
I liked all the hints that it was set at UW Madison without ever mentioning it by name, which felt like a fun little easter egg hunt for Midwesterners. I feel like I have to be right because UW Madison is Taylor's alma mater and Real Life seems pretty heavily autobiographical.
All in all, I can see how this book would be divisive for people. There's nothing uplifting about this, there's no healthy relationships, there's no real conclusion or lesson to take away from it. It could be deeply triggering for some people, or verge on not being relatable enough to others. Personally, I liked it a lot, but I can't say I'd recommend this across the board.
Real Life honestly sometimes felt a little too real, certainly very raw and almost dejected. I'm glad I didn't read this while I was struggling to slog through my STEM degree and frequently felt like I didn't belong there. The Imposter Syndrome vibes are very very strong and honestly is a bit of a trigger warning if that would hit too close to home at the moment. If you're feeling very lonely and lost in the world, proceed with caution. I felt it perfectly captured the Midwestern microaggression flavor and casual racism/sexism/homophobia in a place that is "proud of being woke and liberal" but is still overwhelmingly white. Also, the frustration of advisor favoritism.
The writing style veered a little too close to purple prose for me at times. However, given that Taylor wrote this in a matter of weeks (!!!), I think its solid foundation could have benefitted from just a bit more editing.
I liked all the hints that it was set at UW Madison without ever mentioning it by name, which felt like a fun little easter egg hunt for Midwesterners. I feel like I have to be right because UW Madison is Taylor's alma mater and Real Life seems pretty heavily autobiographical.
All in all, I can see how this book would be divisive for people. There's nothing uplifting about this, there's no healthy relationships, there's no real conclusion or lesson to take away from it. It could be deeply triggering for some people, or verge on not being relatable enough to others. Personally, I liked it a lot, but I can't say I'd recommend this across the board.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Self harm
Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Homophobia
Imposter Syndrome and feeling incredibly lonely and hopeless in the world also prevalent themeswilliamg's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Death of parent, Racism, Racial slurs, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Rape, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Self harm
oliverlang's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-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
3.0
I'm not sure what I expected from this book to begin with but as it went on I found myself compelled to read more in the hopes that the resolutions I wanted from it would come to fruition.
There's a lot of friend group drama going on throughout this book with a lot of dark/serious themes.
I feel like I wanted this book to be more than it was. It had the opportunity to provide strong character development and show a bisexual identity and it just didn't give me that.
Although the book only documents the events over one weekend, the ending felt unfinished and the final chapter came out of the blue with a flash back to the friends meeting for the first time.
There's a lot of friend group drama going on throughout this book with a lot of dark/serious themes.
I feel like I wanted this book to be more than it was. It had the opportunity to provide strong character development and show a bisexual identity and it just didn't give me that.
Although the book only documents the events over one weekend, the ending felt unfinished and the final chapter came out of the blue with a flash back to the friends meeting for the first time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Grief, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
ohlhauc's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This is a book that you need to be in the right mind for because it will make your body clench and blood boil. It is a graphic, dark, and infuriating read not because of the writing but because of the situations the narrator finds himself in, especially as reflect real life (apt title, then).
Real Life follows a long weekend of a black, gay man -- Wallace -- at a Midwestern University as he struggles to find his place amidst a gruelling grad program and a group of friends and colleagues who hurl micro- and macro-aggressions through slurs, complicit silence, and more. It also explores his toxic relationship that descends into violence with a perceived frenemy.
The author's writing and pacing makes the scenes, especially the graphic moments, feel visceral and as if you're a fly on the wall watching hell open up. And despite there being a handful of characters, you feel as if you get to know each one on a personal level, and can relate to knowing someone like them in your own life.
One thing that took away from the novel for me was the extremely detailed description of the scenery and environment. If you're into vivid writing about the place the novel is in, this might not be a deal breaker, but I do prefer less detail. In particular, the description of place broke my focus in the story such as when comments about fowl and the lakeshore was inserted in an emotional, vulnerable conversation between two characters. I wanted to focus on the dialogue not on a heron eating a cricket. The specific explanations of scientific processes and equipment also didn't hook me but if you're a graduate student or into campus novels, again, you might enjoy this level of detail.
Overall, this was a powerful debut that will make you think, both mentally and physically. Highly recommended if you are able to handle graphic descriptions of what's mentioned in the content triggers, especially sexual violence.
Real Life follows a long weekend of a black, gay man -- Wallace -- at a Midwestern University as he struggles to find his place amidst a gruelling grad program and a group of friends and colleagues who hurl micro- and macro-aggressions through slurs, complicit silence, and more. It also explores his toxic relationship that descends into violence with a perceived frenemy.
The author's writing and pacing makes the scenes, especially the graphic moments, feel visceral and as if you're a fly on the wall watching hell open up. And despite there being a handful of characters, you feel as if you get to know each one on a personal level, and can relate to knowing someone like them in your own life.
One thing that took away from the novel for me was the extremely detailed description of the scenery and environment. If you're into vivid writing about the place the novel is in, this might not be a deal breaker, but I do prefer less detail. In particular, the description of place broke my focus in the story such as when comments about fowl and the lakeshore was inserted in an emotional, vulnerable conversation between two characters. I wanted to focus on the dialogue not on a heron eating a cricket. The specific explanations of scientific processes and equipment also didn't hook me but if you're a graduate student or into campus novels, again, you might enjoy this level of detail.
Overall, this was a powerful debut that will make you think, both mentally and physically. Highly recommended if you are able to handle graphic descriptions of what's mentioned in the content triggers, especially sexual violence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Blood, Self harm, and Vomit
Minor: Death of parent
womanwill's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Racism, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Violence, and Child abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
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