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ka_cam'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
takecoverbooksptbo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
There are so many different types of love explored in the novel: friendship, romance, familial love, carnality, love of art, romanticization of the past, care work, among many others. While it's not a clear-eyed novel whose beginning-middle-end structure is immediately satisfying, the miasmal atmosphere and haunting presences of the book resonate far beyond its conclusion.
In a way, Torres gives us a ghost story, but, in another way, Blackouts could be considered a truthful synopsis of our mediated existence. A novel of ideas, it asks, what is biographical or personal truth when it can only ever be revealed through the cleaning-up process of storytelling? Is the past meaningless in the face of an inexhaustible present? Or, alternatively, is the past the only thing that can bestow meaning, given that our personhood can only be defined by the collage of memory and documentation that exists to tell us who we are? Torres doesn't embark on the journey to answer these questions, but to get the reader to think about them, to meditate upon our fragile bodies in relation to the deep time of our actions.
Blackouts is a remarkable book, but it's certainly not for everyone. At times, its elliptical structure gets in the way of the story being told, and the characters floating through the narrative seem too vaporous to picture without the substantial archival material bound up with the text. Having said that, I think most who pick it up will find something to love.
Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Infidelity, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Mental illness
sarah984's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Hate crime, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Death, Homophobia, Medical content, and Racism
Minor: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
finnc'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? No
4.5
Moderate: Sexual content and Homophobia
bella_ruth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Homophobia, Death, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
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
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