Reviews

The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor

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outoftheofficeagain's review against another edition

4.0

Brandon Taylor has done it again! Thank you so much Penguin Random House and Riverhead Books for sending me a paperback copy of The Late Americans.

This is such a mix of the arts, twenty-something life, politics, socio-economic struggles, grief, race, the nuance of experience and empathy between friends and how messy that can be, how hard we can fail at it. I underlines so many astute observations Taylor was able to make and the ways in which you could, through that, feel empathy and frustration at the same time. You felt as if you might be in these friend groups, at the edge, observing their struggles and triumphs, and learning alongside them.

The novel has a very tender feeling, which is impressive since it’s philosophical at times and intelligent throughout. I found things I had wrestled with in my own experience of the world, and some things not so familiar. I loved the passages about money, the use of animals for consumption, and how people don’t belong to other people (a sentiment I’ve often said aloud).

Really great, maybe my favorite work of his, and so pleased to have finally read it.

css13's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 stars. I really liked Taylor’s writing and the cast of characters, but not all of them were individually memorable so I had a hard time keeping track of who was who, especially with the structure of the book focusing on one at a time and then coming back to old ones in overlapping ways. But the university and small town life were really rich settings and the different povs introduced a lot of complexity.

“The more right something felt to him, the less it truly did have to do with how it felt to others.”

kaelynrothe's review against another edition

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It just wasn't for me, like I couldn't really get into it, but I respect it. I might come back to it but it's a library book and it's due soon and I'm reading other things right now.

kem1883's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

leahghunter's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

spmondragon's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

3.5

There is a lot going on in the book. Lots of characters and their stories interactions were hard to follow for me. There is no real closure of the characters either…