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bootsmom3's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Classism, Death, Misogyny, and Grief
Moderate: Racism, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Abortion
emma_ekb's review against another edition
- 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
brandon taylor has such a way with words. the way he captures emotion and friendship and love and lust and anguish and grief, and the way all of those feelings interact, is tangible. what’s interesting about this book is i didn’t necessarily LIKE the characters, but they felt real to me, and i couldn’t help but empathize with their struggles. even characters i thought i didn’t like at all at first, like Timo, i eventually came around to seeing them as these super three dimensional beings - like real people! not sure this is making sense but it’s what i feel. my favorite characters were definitely fyodor, timo and fatima… though i liked seamus’ arc as well.
as someone who grew up in iowa city, i also LOVED all the iowa city references. the bread garden, the ped mall, the quad, the hawkeyes banners…. definitely made my little heart happy
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug use, Abortion, Homophobia, and Racism
megansmith's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
First, the writing in this book is really stellar. I don't know how much of it I'd chalk up to my 25+ years of living in the Midwest but, I felt transported to Iowa City throughout the length of this book. Taylor is a wonderful author and even in snippets I couldn't quite relate to the characters themselves, I could empathize with their feelings and get truly into their experiences through Taylor's writing. He grapples deep themes in a way that honors these character ages and life experiences. I especially appreciate his respect to the struggle characters face as they reckon with the world at large, while also holding on to where they grew up and how they got to where they are now. It's a constant struggle as a student that I think he wraps up nicely as you enter the last chapter. He's a masterful writer and you can tell he wrote from the heart in this book.
Outside of the themes and respect for the age and time in these character's lives, I struggled with the plot. And maybe for good reason but.. I'm not sure. Maybe it's in how the book is marketed? I feel like the cover of the book misled me to think maybe the characters would show a variety of the town, but, the majority of chapters felt like such a small circle of people, specifically this very tight knit group of queer men running into each other through distant connections. On it's own, I think that could have been it's own book! I found it really fascinating, even if I did not have the same exact experience when I was in college, I could find snippets of what I witnessed in college, seeing friends and mutual connections overlap over time without intending to. I think that's a really honest, interesting book premise and I would've been fine if the book was just that. However, adding in the last two chapters changed this in this book and honestly, it did a disservice to both sides of the book. It almost split this book in half. The only two female characters in this book didn't seem to see a single spot of happiness, either. All the characters have a struggle but, at least in the first few chapters, those male characters have small snippets of lightheartedness or connection through relationships, vs the two women in this book struggle in their past and present continually and only fall deeper into struggle as their brief chapters go on. Fatima maybe got it in the last page but,
All in all - I do think this is a really smart, masterful look into a specific town and how the people within it are more connected than they all realize. Equally, I think this book falls flat on it's first promise on the cover, and I think it's what hurts this book from being touted more as a more all-encompassing expose. I wanted more from this but I still gleaned a lot from this book as valuable and important to read. So read at your own risk and also know I have my own biases and opinions that might be blinding me to important points in this book! I definitely want to read more about the book itself and try to understand why Brandon Taylor made certain choices here.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexism, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Abortion, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Bullying, Terminal illness, Stalking, and Racism
schnooglefaceduthie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abortion
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Kidnapping
ghostboy1996's review
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Classism, Racism, Sexual assault, and Sexism
Minor: Abortion
carriepond's review
- 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
3.75
This is not a plot-driven novel, so if that is something that is important to you, look elsewhere. I, however, love a good character-driven novel where the main thing that is happening is the internal monologue of the characters, and although this is my first time reading Brandon Taylor, I understand that this is a common thread in his works.
There are many things this novel does incredibly, the greatest of which is the depth of characters that Taylor creates. I loved sweet Fyodor and Bea, and ended up feeling very invested in Seamus, who I had immediately pegged as an asshole. And at the very end, Taylor gives us more about Daw, who just made my heart break a little more. And the writing was beautiful-- there are so many sentences and passages that I've underlined because they resonated with me or moved me. I will admit, though, that, despite the well-drawn characters and beautiful writing, something about this felt a little too disjointed, making it hard to completely lose myself in it.
Full of ruminations on class, race, sexuality, academia, art, passion, and love, Brandon Taylor's The Late Americans is arresting and beautiful despite feeling stretched thin at times. It makes me excited to check out his backlist, and I recommend that readers of character-driven literary fiction check this one out when it comes out on May 23.
*I received an advanced review copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Thanks to the publisher for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Classism, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual assault and Drug use
Minor: Abortion and Child death