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an0987 's review for:
The Late Americans
by Brandon Taylor
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was not for me. I found the characters empty, the ‘plot’ too vague and the writing too self-absorbed. Do yourself a favour and don’t read this book. I was so bored that it almost made me angry. I guess that’s on me though, because I should’ve just DNFed it at 100 pages by which point I was already annoyed.
Literally nothing happens in the book. Which would have been fine if the characters themselves were interesting to spend time with. Instead, there’s a million characters with about half of them being basically interchangeable. They all seem to hate each other and are cruel for no good reason. I’m so confused why this book was green lit when it should have just been a couple of short stories.
Taylor just seems to like the sound of his own writing too much, and seems to think he’s more intellectually interesting than he actually is. However, I will give it to him that there were some nuggets of social commentary that were insightful and well-written. The prose was often beautiful and vivid.
There’s clearly an audience for this book given some reviewers’ high praise. I think you might enjoy this book if you’re looking for a gay and male version of Sally Rooney. There’s something about this book that reminded me of A Conversation with Friends. However, you must be ok with a story without a main character and no plot. Please do check content warnings for this book before reading it, if that's something you're worried about.
Literally nothing happens in the book. Which would have been fine if the characters themselves were interesting to spend time with. Instead, there’s a million characters with about half of them being basically interchangeable. They all seem to hate each other and are cruel for no good reason. I’m so confused why this book was green lit when it should have just been a couple of short stories.
Taylor just seems to like the sound of his own writing too much, and seems to think he’s more intellectually interesting than he actually is. However, I will give it to him that there were some nuggets of social commentary that were insightful and well-written. The prose was often beautiful and vivid.
There’s clearly an audience for this book given some reviewers’ high praise. I think you might enjoy this book if you’re looking for a gay and male version of Sally Rooney. There’s something about this book that reminded me of A Conversation with Friends. However, you must be ok with a story without a main character and no plot. Please do check content warnings for this book before reading it, if that's something you're worried about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence
Moderate: Violence