Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Biography of X by Catherine Lacey

5 reviews

mispaintedlady's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Really loved the use of mixed media in the book. I was not expecting the plot to also be about fictional US; I normally don't like historical or alternative political fiction. However, this was really well done and I really liked the author's imagining of a divided US with a northern socialist society. 

I gave it a 3 because I think the main character deserved better and more growth. This made the ending fall flat for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Death, Sexism, and Mental illness

Minor: Stalking, Hate crime, Police brutality, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Racism, and Homophobia

There are a lot of minor warnings because part of the plot of the story is a fictional politically divided United States. There is the "Northern Territory" is socialist, forward thinking and safe. The annexed Southern Territory which is run by a heteronormative, patriarchal and extremist political party. Hence, why there are so many extreme minor warnings.

spookieweston's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, and Drug use

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, and Stalking

Minor: Suicide

bluedilly's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Stalking, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Excrement, Infidelity, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, War, Pregnancy, Addiction, Alcohol, and Child abuse

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Biphobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Homophobia, Classism, Lesbophobia, Cancer, Sexual assault, Dementia, Ableism, and Adult/minor relationship

sshabein's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

This novel is absolutely not for everyone, but I loved it. BIOGRAPHY OF X is just like it says on the tin — a "biography" of an artist who went by the name of X, as well as a slew of other names/personas, in a slightly different America than our own. It's a great look at the idea of an art monster/"genius" who had their heyday in the '70s and '80s, and it's also a little hard to describe all the layers that went into this meta-narrative. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time, and it made me want to read more by Catherine Lacey.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Homophobia

savvylit's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

This ambitious novel takes place in an alternate version of the United States in which the South seceded from the rest of the country in the 1940s. For fifty years, the South remained impenetrable to Westerners and Northerners. Then, in the 1990s, reunification began. This unique setting and political context frames the entire "biography."

Biography of X is a sort of literary mystery that's entirely narrated by her widow, C.M. Lucca. C.M. intertwines her discoveries about X's secretive past with memories of her own toxic relationship to her. Readers come to discover alongside C.M. that X was an incredibly unlikeable and manipulative narcissist. At first, her narcissism is harder to see as X hides behind her art. Performance, film, novels - at some point, X did it all. From nearly the beginning of her life, X adopted so many different personas that she became a notorious and inveterate con artist.

X's fictional life as depicted in this story is both glamorous and fascinating. C.M. recounts X's friendships with real-life superstars such as David Bowie, Tom Waits, and Susan Sontag. However, it's not X's glamorous life that makes this novel so compelling to read. Rather, it's the immersive effect of the narration by C.M. C.M. is haunted by X and her controlling ways. Even years after X's passing, C.M.'s life revolves exclusively around X. As she embarks on her investigation, C.M. continues her pattern of deferring her own personality and interests to those of X. Ultimately, this novel offers a fascinating look into the long-term effects of an intimate relationship with a narcissist.

Thank you @netgalley and @fsgbooks for the advanced reader copy of Biography of X in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Death, War, Abandonment, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Drug use and Domestic abuse