Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson

11 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

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

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

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

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Content Warnings

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

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

katsmedialibrary's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

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Content Warnings

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

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

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Content Warnings

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

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

drraytay's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape, Bullying, and Addiction

escharlton's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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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 

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Content Warnings

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