Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - When You Call My Name

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

When You Call My Name by Tucker Shaw

11 reviews

mylovelybookstack's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad fast-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

5.0

I literally cried every few page. Such well written, bittersweet book. I loved every moment with this one even though it was also a hard story. The storytelling was grounded and the dual pov was handled really skilfully.

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mayajouy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-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

5.0

This book is such an important read. Every second of this book was amazing, the characters and the story. I learned so much through reading this book, it taught me things i didn’t know before. It showed me reality of the HIV Epidemic, and it wasn’t pretty. this book is so beautifully written, i will never stop talking about it.

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bruhbruh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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? No

4.75

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fcg's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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jakemitton's review

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challenging dark emotional sad

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I went into this book thinking there was no chance it would be a five star read. After 50 pages I was still sure it couldn’t be a five star read but by the end there was no way for me to give it anything less then five stars. This book is beautiful, devastating and impossible to put down.

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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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emotional 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? No

3.5

Such an important story, capturing the AIDS crisis of the 80s and 90s. I think teens who are interested in learning more about that particular time period will appreciate this story because Shaw includes a lot of details to make that aspect of the book authentic.

That being said, Shaw also includes a lot of details about the 90s in general, so much so that it sometimes overtakes the rest of the story. Both Ben and Adam didn't have disntinct enough voices for me, so their narratives often blurred together and I forgot who was who.

All in all, know this is a pretty heavy book going in, but still such an important story to tell.

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borgit's review

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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shamelesslyash's review against another edition

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emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I wanted to say this was a love letter to New York in the 90s, but it's not. It's something more, something deeper in meaning. We have two boys, Adam and Ben, experiencing a different world; a world many of us don't know today. 90s New York, the LGBTQIA community, was in the middle of a plague. People were dying every minute of every day from AIDS. There was nothing they could do but hope for the best. Adam's story is finding a partner, someone you love, who dies from AIDS. While Ben's story is about finding himself in the city and who he is. Their stories only overlap a handful of times in the book, but both are stories we need.

So many young queer people these days don't know their history. There is a whole generation gone that can't help them navigate the LGBTQIA world. Queer Elders are few and far between. We needed this book now, more then ever.

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karolinak's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I think I expected a bigger emotional impact, but the characters were all somewhat underdeveloped and maybe because of that the book just didn't really 'hit'. I also wish the stories of the two main characters were either kept separate or connected in almost any other way than they were in the book.
So yes, this is an odd one for me. Not a bad book, but very predictable and underdeveloped

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thesawyerbean's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.25

All flowers do is die, Adam thinks. You buy them because they are beautiful, but as soon as you bring them home, you realise that they have already begun to die. Swiftly, or slowly, it doesn’t matter. They only die, and all you can do is watch.

When You Call My Name is a story of two teenage boys, coming of age in New York City in 1990. It’s a story of angst, tragedy, sickness, violence, loss; but also one of hope, community, adventure, love. The two protagonists, Ben & Adam, fates elegantly intertwined, navigate coming to terms with their sexualities, relationships and futures in a disapproving society plagued by the shadow of HIV/AIDS. It is an ugly portrait of the withering reality of the disease and the grief it wrought, while displaying the strength and bravery of the queer communities that came together in solidarity and love in spite of it.

Both heartbreaking and heartwarming, this novel is a delight to read and carries an important piece of history within it. The author’s note at the end really wrapped it up in such a beautiful way, providing personal experiences from Shaw himself that allow you to see his point of view.

If you wait, if you stand still, if you watch and maybe listen, too, then you start to see all the layers and textures and movements and messages. You see all these colours start to emerge from the grayness. Vibrant, alive, just waiting to be seen.

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