Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

My Government Means to Kill Me: A Novel by Rasheed Newson

21 reviews

lenaschrn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Police brutality, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, and Terminal illness

danaslitlist's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

"A childhood spent attending church services, and the first time I ever felt the Word touch me was during a sermon from Dorothy Cotton delivered in Larry Kramer's bedroom. I felt like I'd finally reached a long sought destination and tasted the purest water (....) Until Dorothy removed the scales from my eyes, I'd had one hundred ways of asking one thing: Why did I feel hunted in my homeland? Because my government means to kill me. Amen! Amen and glory hallelujah! At last, I could explain the force shaping my existence."

 
I commend Rasheed Newson for such an impactful, creative and bold debut that is My Government Means to Kill Me. The decision to make this historical fiction read as an autobiography was a choice that could've not worked, but not only did it enhance the reading experience, I fully believe that it was one of the only ways to properly tell Trey's story effectively. When the queer community talks about the Pride, when we talk about queer history and activism, we are talking about the people like the ones in this book. The focus on intersectionality between race, gender, and sexuality, the conversations about activism and how it changes with time, and the sheer emotional impact of the topic of the AIDs epidemic make for a powerful history lesson of how much we owe to the older queer generation and the allies who fought for us. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racism, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Classism, and Death

chellemerrill's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Terminal illness, Grief, Police brutality, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, and Sexual content

samanthamurk's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

how? how is this the end of this book? i genuinely don’t know what to do with myself. this book is a masterpiece. truly life altering, i’m not sure how yet but i know it is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Police brutality, Racism, and Violence

notcharlottete's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Sexual content, Violence, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Racism, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

woolgatherer's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

I have mixed feelings about this one. Newson did a wonderful job giving the reader a very personal look into the world of a young gay Black man in 1980s New York City during the AIDS epidemic. Woven into the story were footnotes explaining who certain individuals, organizations, etc. were to enrich your understanding of this time and situation. I really appreciated the distinctly Black perspective and learned a fair bit.

On that note, the book often read more as an opportunity for Newson to teach the reader than to experience a story, making things feel a bit labored at times. There were also some plot points that kind of floated around, most notably the story with Trey’s brother. I wasn’t entirely sure what Newson wanted to get out of this.

This novel is a great dive into queer history, and it’s clear that Newson took great care to do as much research as possible. However, as a fictional work, I felt that there was a lot left to be desired. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Classism, Hate crime, Sexual content, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Alcohol, Addiction, Racism, Drug use, Violence, Death, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Lesbophobia

anxiousnachos's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Police brutality, Pandemic/Epidemic, Hate crime, Sexual content, and Murder

jdianm's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Halfway through this book, I wondered how I’ve made it this far without reading a protagonist like Trey before. I want more! Through the story, I felt like I was right with him and it was where I wanted to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, Pandemic/Epidemic, Addiction, Classism, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Misogyny, and Outing

Minor: Child death

lvosler21's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Transphobia, Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Outing, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Infertility, Homophobia, Alcohol, Vomit, Suicide, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Slavery, Sexual content, and Racial slurs

dustghosts's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A really interesting take on the fictional memoir, with all the best structural and pacing qualities of a contemporary novel. The narrator, Trey, is charming and likeable— but also messy and often wrong (which, fair, because he is a rotten youth). This is historical fiction that educates not just on a key portion of LGBTQ+ history in the US but also feels pertinent to social movements and activism of today. Newson paints a scene beautifully— I can picture the movie that this book would make (and he is a screenwriter, so that makes sense!). At times tempting to think that some of the perspectives feel a little outdated— but I think some of that is the point, and Trey is very actively growing before our eyes, anyway. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Homophobia, Racism, Classism, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content