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A review by notbrhymes
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
3.5
I have never been so unsure how to rate or review a book but I have a lot of thoughts and found this to be very engaging and our protagonist very nuanced so it’ll get something good.
Just label the whole review as a spoiler at this point.
I found the first 20%-25% to be difficult to get into and I almost DNFd it, but I’m glad I didn’t. I found the later chunk to be deeply engaging. I listened via audio and did not want to stop.
I found every single person in this novel to be insufferable, confusing, or both. Most of the side characters only existed to be horrible to our protagonist, Wallace.
Wallace’s entire friend group is awful. His whole education department is awful. His advisor is awful. Everyone is awful!
I so desperately wanted better for Wallace. He basically NEVER said anything he was thinking throughout this entire novel. I understand that in many instances he would be seen as the problem in the situation for making something (ie: someone being horribly racist to him) a “big deal”, but oftentimes this was also just during general conversations with those he calls his friends (god knows why)
Wallace early on develops a relationship with Miller. He then spends the rest of the book being entirely inconsiderate of the way his actions will make Miller feel. He even continuously goes out of his way to poke and poke and poke Miller to get under his skin. I CANNOT understand this more than any other thing in this book. He takes no consideration for Miller’s feeling unless it’s so that he can irritate him. WHY?!
That all being said, Wallace was easily the best and most fleshed out character in this book. I felt so deeply for him and wanted for him to be able to express himself or stand up for himself without being met with immediate backlash. I was so angry in so many instances throughout this book at the things said/done to him. And for his “friends” to just sit by while horrible things are said to him was truly heartbreaking. Wallace deserved better from EVERY single person in this book.
Additionally, don’t think I liked miller’s ass because of what I said earlier. This man seemingly directly assaulted Wallace and we just moved on from it. What??? They just…continue the relationship.
I really, really wish Brandon Taylor would have addressed this and some of the other deeply problematic things done/said to Wallace a bit more. I also really wish we got to see Wallace stand up for himself more towards the end of this book. But hey, that’s real life.
Just label the whole review as a spoiler at this point.
I found the first 20%-25% to be difficult to get into and I almost DNFd it, but I’m glad I didn’t. I found the later chunk to be deeply engaging. I listened via audio and did not want to stop.
I found every single person in this novel to be insufferable, confusing, or both. Most of the side characters only existed to be horrible to our protagonist, Wallace.
Wallace’s entire friend group is awful. His whole education department is awful. His advisor is awful. Everyone is awful!
I so desperately wanted better for Wallace. He basically NEVER said anything he was thinking throughout this entire novel. I understand that in many instances he would be seen as the problem in the situation for making something (ie: someone being horribly racist to him) a “big deal”, but oftentimes this was also just during general conversations with those he calls his friends (god knows why)
That all being said, Wallace was easily the best and most fleshed out character in this book. I felt so deeply for him and wanted for him to be able to express himself or stand up for himself without being met with immediate backlash. I was so angry in so many instances throughout this book at the things said/done to him. And for his “friends” to just sit by while horrible things are said to him was truly heartbreaking. Wallace deserved better from EVERY single person in this book.
I really, really wish Brandon Taylor would have addressed this and some of the other deeply problematic things done/said to Wallace a bit more. I also really wish we got to see Wallace stand up for himself more towards the end of this book. But hey, that’s real life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Racism, and Homophobia