Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Don't Cry for Me: A Novel

“Live your life freely, Isaac. Rise above our history and be your unapologetic self.”

What a roller coaster of emotions! This book has all the feels. I don’t know how many time I had to put this book down because of the sole fact that I related so much with the son and how he was treated by his father. The amount of hardships and struggles Jacob went through not just as a man but as a Black man struggling in a world that was already made hard for him by history but to have a gay son as well.

Many of the words Jacob said to Isaac my own father/mother has said to me. I don’t know if it’s a Southern thing but the fact that many of the gay men, or supposed gay men, in this story were called “funny,” only cemented how ignorant some people can be. Upon my own liberation from the closet, my mother asked me if I was funny… and it was the single most hardest silence I’ve ever felt. But for her to dismiss my answer only hurt more. My own father didn’t speak to me for 2 weeks. But now, nearly 10 years later, I’m married, my family has an amazing relationship with me and my husband. But still I would recommend this to any parent struggling with their kid’s sexuality.

This book Daniel Black has brought forth to the world had me in a whirlwind of tears and laughter and anger. In the particular scene of a friend suffering from AIDS comes to visit Isaac but Jacob stops to inform him that his son had moved away. I ugly cried for 20 minutes. The fact that Jacob was disgusted by how the young man looked, with sores and emaciated look to him. Jacob’s only thought was that his son would never sink that low to get the “gay disease.”

This book is possibly my favorite book I’ve read all year and I will recommend it to anyone. Just make sure you have tissues. In fact, make it a crying towel. There’s a lot of tears to be shed.

Content Warnings

bookworm247's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

shoohoob's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

Ironic that a book titled Don’t Cry For Me made me sob, but it really did. This book hurt to read. As a queer person with an estranged father, I saw myself in Isaac, and often wondered how he would react to the letters. I found myself wanting to feel for Jacob and hoping my own father would do this. I definitely think I’ll remember this book for the rest of my life. Thank you, Daniel Black.

Content Warnings

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