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jessthanthree's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Death
Moderate: Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Terminal illness, Dementia, Homophobia, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Racism, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Violence, Abandonment, Transphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, War, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
drowsyowl's review against another edition
It's just not for me 😞
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Addiction, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Forced institutionalization
readerette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I found the literary structures overwrought and distracting. I appreciated the facts about the life experiences of the main characters as gay men in a time when homosexuality was still taboo, but watching everything through a scattered fever dream was not compelling to me.
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Sexual violence
rachelfayreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual violence
badmom's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
I’m left wanting to reread it, and also read more.
Graphic: Sexual content and Death
Moderate: Homophobia, Abandonment, Colonisation, Lesbophobia, and Confinement
Minor: Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Infidelity
just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Medical content, Homophobia, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Confinement, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Mental illness
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Confinement, Cursing, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Death, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, and Infidelity
deedireads'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? It's complicated
4.5
Blackouts was vaguely on my radar before it got longlisted (now a finalist) for the National Book Award, but that solidified it on the TBR. It won’t be for everyone, but it’s impossible to not appreciate what a truly impressive work this book is.
Blackouts is a genre-defier, mixing media types, oral history, queer history, and fiction, with no care for formal plot. It’s composed almost entirely of dialogue between an unnamed young narrator and an older man named Juan who is dying. Mixed throughout are blackout poems made from a book of queer history that sits at the center of their conversations, which — together with the fact that the narrator also suffers from actual blackouts in memory — give this novel its name.
Thanks to the way it mixes media and wanders freely, this novel feels like a work of art in a much more tangible way than books usually do. Reading it, which can be accomplished in one sitting, is a bit like a fever dream, cerebral and emotional both. There’s a tenderness that weaves between the themes of identity, sexuality, the power of storytelling, and so much more. I’m still rooting for Chain-Gang All-Stars, but if this were to win the NBA instead, I would definitely understand why.
Finally, please take note that the physical book itself is also absolutely gorgeous, with the way the front cover reflects the light. Get your hands on a hardcover copy if you can!
Moderate: Homophobia and Medical content
jayisreading's review against another edition
4.25
It was fascinating to see how the story unfolded primarily through tender, intimate conversations between two queer men: an unnamed narrator who is in his twenties, and a dying, elderly man named Juan. Torres is also tracing queer history through these conversations mixed with multimedia. It's also clear that queer history is more than "just" queerness, as Torres relates it to race, masculinity, and more.
I have no doubt that a number of things flew over my head as I was reading this, and Blackouts certainly is a book that asks to be reread for further contemplation. This is a book that asks the reader to take their time with every image/illustration, every line, and every utterance.
Graphic: Medical content and Homophobia
Minor: Death and Drug use
mixedreader'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? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Medical trauma and Homophobia
Minor: Death