Reviews with content warning for Grief - Real Life

Hard to read because there’s a lot of unresolved pain. Good antiracist and anti homophobic food for thought. A little too detailed on the science, but I like learning, so I won’t complain to much. Graphic content warning for sex, violence, and grief. Three stars because I wish the writing had been a little stronger. But upgrading to four stars because the characters were so vulnerable to the reader and sometimes with each other.

Content Warnings

fkshg8465's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.5

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megpotter's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

I have never read a book quite like this. Taylor's prose is beautiful and visceral, and I feel like this will be a classic in the not to far off future.

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bitsandbobsdivination's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I’m not huge into literally fiction, but I do read a few of them and it’s typically a hit or miss for me. In this case, it’s more difficult to explain how I feel.

On one side, I felt the writing itself was done really well and if their writing was winning awards on creating a visceral and ‘real life’ response from you, then it definitely done it’s job.

On the other hand, this story didn’t really go anywhere in that there was no resolution and just was kinda faltering from one subject to another. Not all stories have to have a resolution, but usually even then there is a bit of a development in the story or character growth in at least one of the characters. In this story, I felt no one grew, only explored more of their pain in an unhealthy way or lost themselves more to it.

To me, this story showed us some very important, difficult, and painful topics that deserve to be shared... This I don’t disagree with and again, was done very well in expressing them, and at the same time they were shown and felt by us the readers, but never explored to show any way of challenging these topics…

No way of showing the reader any hope, any growth, or to show the that the narrative of Wallace’s life could improve or deviate from the snowball event it has been and seems to continue to be. Also the side white characters never growing either which is not on Wallace to fix, but them (myself included) to learn and do better.

I suppose for some, ‘real life’ really can be and is that painful and this story shows that, and I respect that. We all live life with our own array of pain and trauma and heartache and suffering and it’s difficult to compare or ever really understand, and this story shows one voice in one ‘real life’.

I think for me it was pretty painful to see Wallace continue to suffer and never get any real help, resolve, or real support, only more to add to his already painful list, including the other character’s lists as well.

Overall, this story left me feeling like I learned from his perspective as well as the others, but also left me a bit at odds with my feelings towards it as my personal view of life is quite an optimistic or hopeful one! This although is coming from my own personal perspective with heartaches and challenges as someone who is a woman and lgbt+, but also a cis, white, and lower middle class Midwestern.

I want to hope that his life does improve with the right people and support around him in time beyond this one weekend, and that that can be ‘real life’ as well.

3.75 / 5 Stars

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bookwrm526's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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nialiversuch's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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netylu's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

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marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

Absolute new fave. I'm here for societal critque and especially if it includes acedemia. And what a painful but beautiful book this was. Filled with rage, hurt, fear and indecision, it's nuanced and unapologetic and real. Immediately adding Taylor's other work to my tbr.

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