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bookgoonie's review
3.0
Original review posted @ www.bookgoonie.com July 2011
http://wp.me/p1h3Ps-nC
This book has been described as a rough gem. A rough gem--not because it isn't polished, but because it is real. Set on the streets of Brooklyn, rough, broken, not pretty to the average person...the perfect backdrop. Reading Kid's story felt like watching an art film. You felt like you were there. A kind of day in the life. I wasn't sure if there was going to be a happy ending for Kid. Life can't always do a 180 in 200 pages, so I wasn't sure if Kid was going to make it to the other side.
[Felix to Kid] I felt him shrug against me. "I like the sunrise," he said. "But I prefer the sunset, because at least it's honest."..."The sunrise is the rebirth, the promise the sun makes every morning: 'I'm here to stay,'" Felix said. "But it's bullshit. Because every night, it just leaves again."
Kid lives on the street, partially due to her dad and part her own decision. When her father refers to her as "this", my heart broke. What makes it sad is that this isn't an isolated incident. There are so many parents that degrade their children with words or actions. Whether it is over gender identity or career choice, words hurt. Gender identity and preference is part of the angst of this book. I was frustrated not knowing at first, but by the end I think it was why I liked it. Not knowing allowed me to look at Kid and Scout as people. Kid is a great character. She is strong, a great artist, and maintains her innocence. Besides drinking, she doesn't get involved in any of the darker aspects of living on the streets. Her street family is made up of a unique cast of characters, but you love them for their sincere love and caring about Kid.
The music scenes in the book are beautiful. Like poetry themselves. They are what originally drew me into the story. I stayed around for the tortured artist story and got something much better.
"The tone was like honey, better than anything Felix had ever gotten out of the amp, and your voice was more delicious still--warm and sweet, but there was a darkness in it, and it showed me all those places I'd seen in your eyes."
http://wp.me/p1h3Ps-nC
This book has been described as a rough gem. A rough gem--not because it isn't polished, but because it is real. Set on the streets of Brooklyn, rough, broken, not pretty to the average person...the perfect backdrop. Reading Kid's story felt like watching an art film. You felt like you were there. A kind of day in the life. I wasn't sure if there was going to be a happy ending for Kid. Life can't always do a 180 in 200 pages, so I wasn't sure if Kid was going to make it to the other side.
[Felix to Kid] I felt him shrug against me. "I like the sunrise," he said. "But I prefer the sunset, because at least it's honest."..."The sunrise is the rebirth, the promise the sun makes every morning: 'I'm here to stay,'" Felix said. "But it's bullshit. Because every night, it just leaves again."
Kid lives on the street, partially due to her dad and part her own decision. When her father refers to her as "this", my heart broke. What makes it sad is that this isn't an isolated incident. There are so many parents that degrade their children with words or actions. Whether it is over gender identity or career choice, words hurt. Gender identity and preference is part of the angst of this book. I was frustrated not knowing at first, but by the end I think it was why I liked it. Not knowing allowed me to look at Kid and Scout as people. Kid is a great character. She is strong, a great artist, and maintains her innocence. Besides drinking, she doesn't get involved in any of the darker aspects of living on the streets. Her street family is made up of a unique cast of characters, but you love them for their sincere love and caring about Kid.
The music scenes in the book are beautiful. Like poetry themselves. They are what originally drew me into the story. I stayed around for the tortured artist story and got something much better.
"The tone was like honey, better than anything Felix had ever gotten out of the amp, and your voice was more delicious still--warm and sweet, but there was a darkness in it, and it showed me all those places I'd seen in your eyes."
clairespaulding's review
3.0
This book is a bit of a puzzle to me because I wanted to fall in love with it, I loved all the characters, I loved the premise, and I thought the writing was beautiful, and yet I didn't quite fall in love with it. Maybe it was that the story felt quietly lyrical all the way through but failed to stir any truly intense emotions in me; maybe it was that the ending did not quite satisfy me. One way or another, it was a lovely book, it just didn't move me as much as I hoped it would.
mcf's review
3.0
For about the first third of this book, I was totally entranced by its dreamy romanticism. Told in first person by a 15-year-old semi-runaway, it's the story of falling in love (twice), and the family that grows up around a kid during the summer months he spends on the streets. There are dark moments and themes, certainly, but the overall tone is glossy and wonderful -- Brooklyn has never looked better, no one has ever sung more beautifully, and freedom (even temporary freedom) has never been more possible.
Eventually, though, the tone and outlook shift from endearing and charming to wearing and tiresome, and the characters start to appear less quirky just arrogant and/or naive. Even when that happens, the book remains entirely readable, but the story is inevitably less compelling, and what had once been urgent ends up tired and pat.
Eventually, though, the tone and outlook shift from endearing and charming to wearing and tiresome, and the characters start to appear less quirky just arrogant and/or naive. Even when that happens, the book remains entirely readable, but the story is inevitably less compelling, and what had once been urgent ends up tired and pat.
gdavidson's review
1.0
Interesting premise, but I just couldn't get over the fact that I didn't know the gender of the main character :/
jamesflint's review
Rep: male bi mc
dnf after like 1h 10 bc its just too tedious for me & idk if thats bc of the narrator (so irritating) or bc of the story itself (purple prose central) maybe itd have been better with either a different narrator or if id been reading it
(also i know he wrote the whole no defined gender thing for kid and scout but like the narrator had their own opinion clearly...)
dnf after like 1h 10 bc its just too tedious for me & idk if thats bc of the narrator (so irritating) or bc of the story itself (purple prose central) maybe itd have been better with either a different narrator or if id been reading it
(also i know he wrote the whole no defined gender thing for kid and scout but like the narrator had their own opinion clearly...)
storytruth's review
5.0
i REALLY loved this book. i love the narration of Kid and the characters. reminds me of Hannah Moskowitz's books. lovelovelove. <3 the writing is beautiful.
aceofbens's review
4.0
Content Warnings
Alcohol use; Character death (side character, suicide); Cigarette use; Emotional abuse from parents; Underage relationship (main character and a side character, the relationship is not glorified and addressed in a negative light)
Review
I've had Brooklyn Burning on my shelf for over a year, and the whole reason I even bought this was because a friend was gushing about it on Twitter two years ago. But honestly, they're the only person I've ever heard talking about it, so I suppose that's the reason why I hesitated on starting this. But I started a TBR Jar to get me to read some books that I own and have had for-literally-ever, and this was the second pick from it! (The first was #Prettyboy Must Die, but I enjoyed this one so much more.)
The thing that stuck out to me most about the book is that it's told in first and second person. Essentially, the main character, Kid, is telling the story through their eyes to the love interest, Scout. It's such an interesting way to read a story because it felt like I was overhearing someone's conversation. It didn't feel like Kid was talking to me, because "you" is a character in the story. I'm obviously not. This is definitely a trend that books about non-binary characters in like 2015 and before have used to avoid pronouns, but this was well-done. It didn't feel like that's what he was trying to do.
Like me go back to the whole "non-binary characters" thing. So this certainly isn't the most explicit rep, and it's not Own Voices either. Brooklyn Burning was published in 2011, which was such a different world than the one we live in now when it comes to queer rights and their progress. So neither Kid nor Scout is non-binary on the page. Still, you can tell because pronouns are never used for either of them and there are no gendered descriptions. They're just people.
Most of the named characters in the story have no problem with either of them being who they are. Kid has problems with their parents, but they have
So what is Brooklyn Burning about? It's about A LOT. There is so much going on in these 200 pages, because they take place over the course of two consecutive summers.
It's about social class! The main characters are all working class people. A bigger plot point is a gross millionaire looking to get richer by taking over an abandoned building where a ton of homeless people live and turning it into a business.
It's about falling in love! As I mentioned in the content warnings, Kid has a relationship at sixteen(?) with someone who is WAY older than them and is super bad for them. But then they fall in love with Scout. This is such a sweet love story that ties in so well with the other sub-plot of self-acceptance and self-confidence.
It's about growing up! This part of the story is done in a great way that I don't see so much of in books, especially YA. Brooklyn Burning switches between two summers—I want to say it's the summers of 2009 and 2010?—and this is an interesting way to show character growth, especially for Kid. I really enjoyed the way that the past and present were shown in such a contrast of each other, and it made me realize that this is an aspect I'd love to see in more stories.
Final Thought
I'm finished rambling now! This is a really raw, beautiful, and underrated book. I'm so glad I stumbled across this because I feel like it's always going to hold a special place in my heart. If you're a fan of complex coming of age stories with casual (albeit possibly too casual) queer rep, definitely pick up a copy of this.
Support Me Elsewhere!
Alcohol use; Character death (side character, suicide); Cigarette use; Emotional abuse from parents; Underage relationship (main character and a side character, the relationship is not glorified and addressed in a negative light)
Review
I've had Brooklyn Burning on my shelf for over a year, and the whole reason I even bought this was because a friend was gushing about it on Twitter two years ago. But honestly, they're the only person I've ever heard talking about it, so I suppose that's the reason why I hesitated on starting this. But I started a TBR Jar to get me to read some books that I own and have had for-literally-ever, and this was the second pick from it! (The first was #Prettyboy Must Die, but I enjoyed this one so much more.)
The thing that stuck out to me most about the book is that it's told in first and second person. Essentially, the main character, Kid, is telling the story through their eyes to the love interest, Scout. It's such an interesting way to read a story because it felt like I was overhearing someone's conversation. It didn't feel like Kid was talking to me, because "you" is a character in the story. I'm obviously not. This is definitely a trend that books about non-binary characters in like 2015 and before have used to avoid pronouns, but this was well-done. It didn't feel like that's what he was trying to do.
Like me go back to the whole "non-binary characters" thing. So this certainly isn't the most explicit rep, and it's not Own Voices either. Brooklyn Burning was published in 2011, which was such a different world than the one we live in now when it comes to queer rights and their progress. So neither Kid nor Scout is non-binary on the page. Still, you can tell because pronouns are never used for either of them and there are no gendered descriptions. They're just people.
Most of the named characters in the story have no problem with either of them being who they are. Kid has problems with their parents, but they have
So what is Brooklyn Burning about? It's about A LOT. There is so much going on in these 200 pages, because they take place over the course of two consecutive summers.
It's about social class! The main characters are all working class people. A bigger plot point is a gross millionaire looking to get richer by taking over an abandoned building where a ton of homeless people live and turning it into a business.
It's about falling in love! As I mentioned in the content warnings, Kid has a relationship at sixteen(?) with someone who is WAY older than them and is super bad for them. But then they fall in love with Scout. This is such a sweet love story that ties in so well with the other sub-plot of self-acceptance and self-confidence.
It's about growing up! This part of the story is done in a great way that I don't see so much of in books, especially YA. Brooklyn Burning switches between two summers—I want to say it's the summers of 2009 and 2010?—and this is an interesting way to show character growth, especially for Kid. I really enjoyed the way that the past and present were shown in such a contrast of each other, and it made me realize that this is an aspect I'd love to see in more stories.
Final Thought
I'm finished rambling now! This is a really raw, beautiful, and underrated book. I'm so glad I stumbled across this because I feel like it's always going to hold a special place in my heart. If you're a fan of complex coming of age stories with casual (albeit possibly too casual) queer rep, definitely pick up a copy of this.
Support Me Elsewhere!
libraryleopard's review
I liked this when I was reading it, but now that I'm done I feel like I don't know anything about the characters, especially Scout, the love interest??? I was pleasantly surprised by the ending and how much I enjoyed the writing, though.
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