A review by vynexareads
Real Life by Brandon Taylor

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

'Something in him was wild and wanting to be free, to be loose, and he howled at the top of his lungs, his little voice flattening, then fraying at the edges, until there was no more air in his chest and he was hollow.'

When I heard about this book in 2019 and decided to purchase it in 2021, I was hoping to enjoy this book. Never did I think that it would grab me and refuse to let go the way it has.

I hurt with Wallace, I was angry, understanding and frustrated with and for him. There was this urge within me to hold his hand and walk with him through this part of his life, that's how close I felt to him.

There were times where Taylor wrote a paragraph of my life and experiences to the point where I had to remind myself this isn't about me, to stop being selfish. But it didn't stop me from feeling as a mirror was being held up to my face.

This book holds the most painful chapter I have ever read in my life (chapter/part 5 to be exact).

A new book placed in my 'favorites' shelf without a doubt in my mind. I will be revisiting Wallace many times in my life and learning more about who I am each time I do.

'The past is not a receding horizon. Rather, it advances one moment at a time, marching steadily forward until it has claimed everything and we become again who we were; we become ghosts when the past catches us. I can't live as long as my past does. It's one or the other.'