Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson

20 reviews

jayisreading's review

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Lesbophobia

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Child death

thepermageek's review against another edition

funny reflective fast-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Police brutality, and Medical content

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, and Abandonment

katsmedialibrary's review against another edition

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Medical content

Moderate: Drug use, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual assault, and Police brutality

onmalsshelf's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

I’m amazed that this is flying under the radar because it needs to be on everyone’s radar. 

A coming of age story following a black, gay man as he makes his own way in New York City after leaving his privileged family behind in Indianapolis. Set in the 1980s during the AIDS epidemic, this collection of lessons that the main character, Trey, learns almost reads like a collection of memoir essays. 

This was a powerful reflection on a man coming of age in the Gay Rights movement as well as the AIDS epidemic. With both heartbreaking and comical moments, this was a powerful story that should be a must read.

If you enjoy books that trick you into thinking it’s nonfiction, but are actually fictional - pick this one up!

A TIP: Pick this one up as a physical or ebook copy! The footnotes help make the story and the audiobook version does not have the footnotes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Grief, Lesbophobia, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

knittingreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, and Police brutality

drraytay's review

challenging emotional informative 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, and Rape

escharlton's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Drug use

onemorepagecrew's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective 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? No

5.0

I fell hard for the debut novel My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson.  I went into the book not knowing more than the description and I was quickly engrossed in the story of Trey.  

 

The coming-of-age book takes place in 1980s New York City where a young gay Black man, Trey, has recently arrived.  He left his wealthy family in the Midwest to pursue the life he wanted and quickly immersed himself in the NYC social scene.  I absolutely loved the flow of the book and how we saw Trey focus on his social life first, enjoying being a young person in a new city.  

 

As he became more connected to people in his social circle, he couldn’t ignore the brutal impacts of AIDS on the queer community.  From there the story expands to include gay rights activism, intersectionality with the civil rights movement, and reconciling with his past family traumas.  Trey remains a young person having a fun time, but he is also maturing and standing up for what he believes in.  It’s a well-done transition in writing that mirrors the way the character is expanding – I loved it. 

 

I loved Trey’s self-awareness and the bold bravery that he repeatedly showed. The book hit such a great balance between showing the seriousness of the social and political crisis while never taking away from Trey’s inner positivity.  I’m partial to coming-of-age stories and this “personal and political awakening” journey was top notch, with a dash of famous cameos that added to the intrigue. 

 

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillanaudio for the advanced copy in exchange for my review – I devoured the audio book in <2 days and loved it.  This book is available on August 23 and can be pre-ordered now.  

 

Content warnings: Homophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Child death, Death, Racism, Drug use 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

moreadsnrambles's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was very interesting and enjoyable to read! I loved the way the main character’s life was explored and depicted through his sort of past tense narration. I also really enjoyed the way the fictional aspects of the main character were mixed in with historical figures and movements. The book was profound at times with a few brief moments of comedy and a sense of queer-coming-of-age. As a Black queer person it was definitely both touching and disappointing to read different actions and responses on the part of different characters, and entities in the book(like the government and police) that are still true and poignant to today. All in all a wonderful read and a fantastic debut from Rasheed Newson.

Thanks to Rasheed Newson and Flat Iron Books for the ARC and the chance to review the book!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Racism, and Alcohol