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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
dark
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a disappointing book. Every time Boryga gets within a mile of an interesting point, he disregards it immediately. I can’t imagine having a worldview that implies that no one has ever felt genuinely about a cause.
It’s a boring satire that is immensely out of date in spite of being published in 2024. Who needs this kind of story? Why are we satirizing the excesses of the left in a time where fascism is becoming more prominent in American politics on a daily basis?
No one has ever acted like a single character in this book—they’re just a collection of shallow dolls meant to play out a collective eye roll at the mere concept of caring.
It’s a boring satire that is immensely out of date in spite of being published in 2024. Who needs this kind of story? Why are we satirizing the excesses of the left in a time where fascism is becoming more prominent in American politics on a daily basis?
No one has ever acted like a single character in this book—they’re just a collection of shallow dolls meant to play out a collective eye roll at the mere concept of caring.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fundamentally incurious and wildly out of date for the time period it was published. even as satire, it does not reflect reality in any meaningful way, which makes any of the satirical elements pointless. this is a book for the “attack helicopter” joke-makers of the 2010s.
Hm. This was an interesting story about how falsified performative activism can be damaging in the conversations about race, class, and its intersection, as well as an interesting story about authenticity. It’s an interesting story about how an individual’s desire for validation and social media addiction can influence their perception of their reality. I like the idea of how a person, a prospective writer, can find themselves in a situation where they keep writing stories in the hopes to advance their careers, and how it connects with the world in which they grew up in, but I think this books falls flat in its character design. (Spoilers ahead)
Javier, Anais, Gio are all written with a pretty linear character progression that doesn’t even build any expectations to subvert. A guy who grows up with a mob boss father who has Machiavellian tendencies. A woman who centers their identity around activism grew up in a more conservative space, and is also not as enthusiastic with helping working class people as they believed. A guy who grows up along side guy character, but acts as a foil that ends up in jail, and comes out of jail just looking to move on in life. It feels like 3 relatively cliche storylines converging in with each other that don’t really build any foundation for major character growth.
The ending didn’t really stick to me. He gets Bojack Horseman’d on an interview, exposed for his fraudulent race baiting and it leads him to working outside of writing, when suddenly he gets an opportunity to write a novel talking about the redemptive arc. The narrator then points to us saying that we “created him”, in the sense that because the readers read through the story they somehow supported the stories and the content of his writing in a way. I think this was trying to be a point of how people, especially on social media, can tend to sensationalize information for their own gain and how the public in this novel supported his writing. I think the point of this part was that he *didn’t* really learn his lesson, I think the last few paragraphs just feel a bit phoned in, and that emphasis doesn’t really work.
Javier, Anais, Gio are all written with a pretty linear character progression that doesn’t even build any expectations to subvert. A guy who grows up with a mob boss father who has Machiavellian tendencies. A woman who centers their identity around activism grew up in a more conservative space, and is also not as enthusiastic with helping working class people as they believed. A guy who grows up along side guy character, but acts as a foil that ends up in jail, and comes out of jail just looking to move on in life. It feels like 3 relatively cliche storylines converging in with each other that don’t really build any foundation for major character growth.
The ending didn’t really stick to me. He gets Bojack Horseman’d on an interview, exposed for his fraudulent race baiting and it leads him to working outside of writing, when suddenly he gets an opportunity to write a novel talking about the redemptive arc. The narrator then points to us saying that we “created him”, in the sense that because the readers read through the story they somehow supported the stories and the content of his writing in a way. I think this was trying to be a point of how people, especially on social media, can tend to sensationalize information for their own gain and how the public in this novel supported his writing. I think the point of this part was that he *didn’t* really learn his lesson, I think the last few paragraphs just feel a bit phoned in, and that emphasis doesn’t really work.
5 Stars • Victim is a debut novel by Andrew Boryga. It follows the story of Javi, an aspiring writer who cynically exploits his Bronx upbringing and identity as a person of color for personal gain in the media and publishing industry. The book explores themes of identity, race, class, and the exploitation of personal narratives in a satirical and thought-provoking manner.
#Victim #AndrewBoryga #Bookstagram
#Victim #AndrewBoryga #Bookstagram
Our main character, Javier, first realized how overplaying traumatic life experiences could lead to personal gain when he was a boy. Then, he continued to twist everything and everyone around him until there’s no truth left – from fudging a college admissions essay to completely making up national op eds. Just shy of 300 pages, the story’s entertaining and moves fast, making you anticipate Javier’s downfall. There’s also good commentary on performative allyship and how people of color often receive more recognition when speaking about trauma.
sad
fast-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
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I started reading this book in June of last year and admittedly fell into a bit of a slump afterward. But I picked it back up this week and finished it. While I'm glad I finally finished the book, I can't say I really enjoyed how the story progressed.
I appreciated the satirical nature of the book and enjoyed the first several chapters, which captured my attention with both the plot and the main character, Javier. However, toward the end, I found myself disinterested and, if anything, rooting for his downfall.
returned because library deadline was coming up. Also made the mistake of reading some reviews on here that gave me a headache