Reviews

Christodora by Tim Murphy

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southernstory's review against another edition

5.0

The Christodora (an actual apartment building on the Lower East Side of NYC) has an interesting history and I was excited to read a novel that featured it as a setting. Written by Tim Murphy, The Christodora is an ambitious novel that deftly captures the AIDS epidemic and the ensuing activist movement around it. The novel spans four decades – from the first arrival of AIDS to the future in 2021 – much of it centered around the character of Mateo (and the family and friends in his orbit), an adopted Latino son to white, upper middle class parents. Murphy is clearly a gifted and skilled writer and his journalistic background allowed for nuanced detail throughout the book that gave me a better understanding of the far-reaching effects and impacts of AIDS. I tend to shy away from fiction that delves into recreational drug use and I also tend to not sympathize with characters who are drug addicts. However, in the hands of Murphy, he humanized this topic that is so difficult for me to read and showed me a different side of it that led me to feel sympathetic to those who are addicted to drugs. He told me their story and for the first time, I was able to see it through a different lens. Murphy covers a lot of ground in this book and in addition to AIDs and activism, he also explores race, adoption, identity, gentrification and class. Richly layered, there are topics running beneath the surface such as parenting that put the novel on an even deeper level for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

lillianpham's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative 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

A New York City read with a capital ‘N’ ‘Y’ ‘C.’ Really enjoyed this one for the complexities of the characters and how much about I learnt about the AIDS epidemic. Very touching and heartwarming while also shedding light on such a horrible disease that ravaged so much of the population.

ktxx22's review against another edition

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4.0

First shout out to @kenyan_library for this kick ass recommendation! I saw it on his feed over a month ago and knew I needed this story in my life! This book is outside of my normal realm of books I enjoy, but this book is also a book that talks about subject matter that is important and informative. I throughly enjoyed this it weaved its way though many people and many lives. It discusses the AIDS outbreak of the mid to late 80s and how it was managed, or not. The people who were on the ground level. The people affected and infected. The lose of loved ones and the grief that occurs post loss. I had a pretty emotional time reading this and stepping into those shoes. On the other hand it deals with addictions: alcohol, cocaine, meth, and heroine. It talks in depth and graphic detail about the highs and the lows and the feelings associated with those things and attempting to get clean after years of using and abusing. Trigger warnings abound. But I highly recommend this. There were a few characters that I was not fond of from any perspective and didn’t feel that they added much to the story and because of that I’m docking it down to 4/5 Stars but I know this is a book I will think on and compare to others in the future.

pleoniesmith's review against another edition

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4.0

Really compelling story.

sjhaug's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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? Yes

5.0

kstookley's review against another edition

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4.0

I reached for this book because I found it on a list of literary fiction with "happy" endings (happy, in this case, meaning not actively sad). It has some of my favorite elements in fiction-- primarily, lives criss-crossing unexpectedly throughout the decades. Although, like the best of this genre, it never provides direct closure, it offers the hope of that. This, and the distinct voices of each of the narrators and its exploration of New York AIDS activism, more than held my interest. The final chapters, set in 2021, were jarring, as any books set in such close proximity to coronavirus stuff without mentioning it at all will be. Nevertheless, an engaging read.