Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

23 reviews

placebogirl's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense slow-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

1.25


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samarakroeger's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • 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

4.25

Christopher Isherwood meets Transcendent Kingdom meets Bryan Washington (???) -- I'm doing that thing again where I end up picking up books that are pretty different on the surface but end up covering very similar themes/topics or have similar tones.  Real Life takes place over a very short time period and deals with queerness, otherness, and grief like A Single Man, and the coldness of the tone is almost dissociative, like IsherwoodIt also has a similar setting to Transcendent Kingdom (Black grad student from Alabama studying STEM at a PWI) and for some reason I can't quite place Brandon Taylor's writing reminds me of Bryan Washington.  Both Memorial and Real Life fail to show a single healthy relationship and both have "unsatisfying" endings (which I personally appreciate).  If you liked any of these elements in other books, you might really like Real Life.

Real Life honestly sometimes felt a little too real, certainly very raw and almost dejected.  I'm glad I didn't read this while I was struggling to slog through my STEM degree and frequently felt like I didn't belong there.  The Imposter Syndrome vibes are very very strong and honestly is a bit of a trigger warning if that would hit too close to home at the moment.  If you're feeling very lonely and lost in the world, proceed with caution.  I felt it perfectly captured the Midwestern microaggression flavor and casual racism/sexism/homophobia in a place that is "proud of being woke and liberal" but is still overwhelmingly white.  Also, the frustration of advisor favoritism.

The writing style veered a little too close to purple prose for me at times.  However, given that Taylor wrote this in a matter of weeks (!!!), I think its solid foundation could have benefitted from just a bit more editing.

I liked all the hints that it was set at UW Madison without ever mentioning it by name, which felt like a fun little easter egg hunt for Midwesterners.  I feel like I have to be right because UW Madison is Taylor's alma mater and Real Life seems pretty heavily autobiographical.

All in all, I can see how this book would be divisive for people.  There's nothing uplifting about this, there's no healthy relationships, there's no real conclusion or lesson to take away from it.  It could be deeply triggering for some people, or verge on not being relatable enough to others.  Personally, I liked it a lot, but I can't say I'd recommend this across the board.

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nikki_readsss'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? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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cosycourtney's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Real Life was so devastating. I found it really sad and confusing; in the way you can’t always make sense of your own feelings. At times I’d be so absorbed in reading that I would forgot where I was and he compulsively turning pages, others (whenever it had to do with science) I was willing to move past. The reality of Real Life was harrowing and I know that was intentional. I was left unsure about certain things and was questioning whether, in certain situations, a persons suffering negates that of others for a moment in time? Who’s suffering is more valid, is someone allowed to care more about one thing than another? There is never a clear answer but I was glad to be forced to think about it. Please consider the content warnings before reading x

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rachbake's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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raoulalexander's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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strange's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective relaxing sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Mmm… I think this book was technically good, but it really just wasn’t for me. 

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nenesuxz's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

So so deeply sad, I loved the emotions, I was obsessed with the writing, but I feel as if the plot was a little lost… 

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hbrown'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? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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lavender_ani's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • 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

4.0


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