Reviews

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

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bristlecone's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? No

4.0

misskaylajean's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What a beautiful gut wrenching book about the AIDS epidemic in the gay community during the end of the 20th century in Chicago. This book was so informative on this particular topic with masterful storytelling. I enjoyed having the book set in Chicago as it was familiar to me, but it was so much more than that. I absolutely adored Yale as a main character and loved the storyline that was set in the 80s. I was not as captivated by the other storyline set in Paris in 2015, but appreciated how the stories interconnected. Rebecca Makkai is an incredible writer and I will definitely be reading more of her work. This was a big step outside of my comfort zone as far as books go, but wow am I happy I read it.

amydarcy's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

i really wanted to like this book but it just fell so flat. it was unnecessarily long - the 2015 storyline should’ve been cut out bc the sole element tying it to the 80s/90s storyline were a couple characters here and there (and ngl it was so boring). i couldn’t care less for most of the art-centric scenes and really only kept reading for the AIDS storyline. even then, the writing was detached in a way that stopped me from getting emotionally invested, so what should’ve have been devastating scenes just didn’t hit. if the 2015 storyline had been replaced w/ a storyline following nora’s time in paris, i would’ve enjoyed this book a lot more

bthlrn's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

Amazing and heartbreaking. The characters felt so real and complex, and the way the story weaves around art is also incredible. This book will stay with me a long time and is one of the best I've read in a second.

elwood's review against another edition

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5.0

My heart is broken

erynmarieliz's review against another edition

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4.5

Had this book been a little longer with a little more character depth and no different timelines, I really think it could’ve made me feel like A Little Life did