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careinthelibrary's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
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? It's complicated
3.5
This was good! A fast-paced coming-of-age story with three unique and compelling perspectives.
I learned a lot about the modern diagnosis and treatment process of HIV/AIDS as well as the Brazilian cultural significance of queerness and HIV/AIDS.
This was an audiobook read for me and I enjoyed all the narrators and it helped me differentiate the different povs which can otherwise be a challenge in audio form.
I recommend this to fans of queer YA coming-of-age novels like Ziggy Stardust and Me and This is Kind of an Awkward Love Story.
I learned a lot about the modern diagnosis and treatment process of HIV/AIDS as well as the Brazilian cultural significance of queerness and HIV/AIDS.
This was an audiobook read for me and I enjoyed all the narrators and it helped me differentiate the different povs which can otherwise be a challenge in audio form.
I recommend this to fans of queer YA coming-of-age novels like Ziggy Stardust and Me and This is Kind of an Awkward Love Story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Outing
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Drug use, Violence, and Blood
HIV/AIDS stigma, medical treatment and side effects of treatment/lack of treatment for HIV/AIDS.megelizabeth's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
"I hope one day HIV will be only a footnote in a life full of good stuff and nice people."
I really liked this book on the whole. It does a wonderful job of highlighting the importance of joy of friendship and found family, and of drag communities, and builds a narrative around HIV that is both educational and a good story. I personally enjoyed Ian's point of view most, and particularly loved his relationship with his sister. I liked Henrique and Victor as characters, but I struggled to feel connected to their relationship - I think it would have helped to start the story slightly earlier, prior to them meeting - and found myself becoming frustrated at the constant back-and-forth between them. Overall, though, I did like this book a lot and it's given me a lot to think about, and I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for anything else Lucas Rocha writes in the future.
I really liked this book on the whole. It does a wonderful job of highlighting the importance of joy of friendship and found family, and of drag communities, and builds a narrative around HIV that is both educational and a good story. I personally enjoyed Ian's point of view most, and particularly loved his relationship with his sister. I liked Henrique and Victor as characters, but I struggled to feel connected to their relationship - I think it would have helped to start the story slightly earlier, prior to them meeting - and found myself becoming frustrated at the constant back-and-forth between them. Overall, though, I did like this book a lot and it's given me a lot to think about, and I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for anything else Lucas Rocha writes in the future.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Suicide
robyn_fenix's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Chronic illness, and Homophobia
Moderate: Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Bullying
Minor: Blood
innastholiel's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime
Moderate: Alcohol, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Abandonment
Minor: Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Suicide, and Sexual content
anniereads221's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Medical content, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, and Violence
HIV AIDS HP referencesramreadsagain's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I picked this up on impulse and wish I had read more about it first, I didn’t realise it was a young adult book. I’ve definitely outgrown the genre and it’s just not for me.
Outside of that though this is a good book. It covers an important topic that I wish I had known more about when I was younger, and it even taught me a couple of things today. It’s also a really nice story, covering three different perspectives.
I wish there was more development of their friendship. A lot of the narration was devoted to irrelevant descriptions and the pacing was a bit off at times. Furthermore the Henrique/Victor romance felt “rushed” just because most of it happened before the book started so we don’t really see them interact much which lead me to not be invested in the romance. It has a bit of a “tell not show” issue as well and I felt that the moral of the story was a bit heavyhanded but I understand that these are often standard characteristics of young adult books.
I’d recommend it for fans of YA.
Outside of that though this is a good book. It covers an important topic that I wish I had known more about when I was younger, and it even taught me a couple of things today. It’s also a really nice story, covering three different perspectives.
I wish there was more development of their friendship. A lot of the narration was devoted to irrelevant descriptions and the pacing was a bit off at times. Furthermore the Henrique/Victor romance felt “rushed” just because most of it happened before the book started so we don’t really see them interact much which lead me to not be invested in the romance. It has a bit of a “tell not show” issue as well and I felt that the moral of the story was a bit heavyhanded but I understand that these are often standard characteristics of young adult books.
I’d recommend it for fans of YA.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Hate crime
Minor: Outing and Alcohol
jayisreading's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
This was a pretty fast and somewhat mindless read for me. What was interesting was that this book put the conversation of HIV at the front and center, bringing to attention the stigma against it, the struggles that HIV positive people face, and the impact it has on day-to-day life. Another interesting thing that I liked about this book was it focused on modern-day Brazil. Following three young gay men (I believe the youngest was eighteen while the oldest was twenty-one), you learn a lot about HIV... maybe to the point that the book ends up reading more like an information booklet than an actual book.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually learned a lot more about HIV, but I also picked this book up with expectations that I’ll get a story of some kind. Yes, there was a story, but this definitely wasn’t a plot-driven book and focused more on delivering information about HIV to me. There was some interesting character development, though, to show how HIV personally impacted the protagonists, but it wasn’t anything revolutionary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Hate crime
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Sexual content
laurenleigh's review against another edition
emotional
informative
lighthearted
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? Yes
4.0
Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha is about three young gay Brazilian men navigating life with HIV, either in their own diagnosis or that of a loved one. It treads a fine line between being educational and feeling forced, and for the most part, it walks this line well. I would hope that we all know the basics of HIV, but I found myself learning more about what it’s actually like to live with it in today’s world. The most interesting storyline in my opinion was between Henrique and Victor, the former being HIV-positive, the latter being negative. Victor is definitely attracted to Henrique, but has to navigate through some of his own fears and prejudices towards the virus. I enjoyed that the characters were both likable and flawed, but sometimes they fell a little flat. There were just some lines here and there that felt underdeveloped or implausible, though this could be a reflection of the translation more than the original text.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime
Moderate: Blood and Homophobia
aromarrie's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol and Medical content
Minor: Homophobia
adhdru's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia
Moderate: Alcohol and Medical content
Minor: Transphobia