Reviews

actually well developed characters, engaging story lines, no cringy suffering for the sake of heartache - actually explores the human condition in a new-ish light

cloudsoflemons's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

flindberg's review against another edition

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emotional informative 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? Yes

5.0

This book had me sobbing towards the end! Which I rarely do. It was super good and now I’m looking into learning more about AIDS and reading more stories like this.

offbalance80's review against another edition

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3.0

If the House of Impossible Beauties was fanfic for Paris is Burning, then the Great Believers is filling in story gaps found in either Longtime Companion or And the Band Played On. It's a more soapy, affluent take about those who did (and did not) survive the intense AIDS crisis than the other, which makes for slightly better reading. While the plot involving main character Yale was absorbing, it was overlong, and the "modern day" story quickly ran out of steam after certain facts were revealed. I guess that it was an attempt to highlight the ideas that life continues and there are no true endings, but it felt somewhat unsatisfying.

hlwilkins's review against another edition

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4.0

A part compelling story set during the time of the AIDs crisis in Chicago. There were parts I loved and parts I struggled to connect to but overall it was ok. I think parts of the story were disjointed and could have benefited from more character development. I'm also not a fan of the way the speech was crafted in. There were a lot of sentences that started "Yale said..." There are 2 separate timelines running and whilst the characters are linked, the stories aren't so much and I felt I was reading 2 completely different plots.
In 1985 we meet Yale and his friends who have been impacted by AIDs. We start at the funeral of one of Yale's friends - Nico - who has died of AIDs. There is Nico's sister Fiona, Yale's boyfriend Charlie, Nico's boyfriend Terence, and Jacob their friend. Yale works for an art gallery with a lady called Cecily and they are trying to convince Nora (Nico's dying aunt) to bequest a collection of artwork she acquired in Paris before the war. There's a lot of reminiscing from Nora about the artwork and her love for one of the artists. During this timeline, Yale learns that Charlie has cheated on him with Jacob and caught AIDs from him. Yale starts an affair with Ramon an intern with the gallery. Yale then tests positive after Ramon admits he too has slept with Jacob. Charlie, Terence, and Yale all pass away from AIDs.
Alternating to 2015 we follow an older Fiona who has travelled to Paris to find her estranged daughter Claire and her granddaughter. She is staying with Richard and his partner Serge. Fiona reminisces about the death of her brother and friends in the 1980s. She also chases Claire around Paris and is surprised when Jacob shows up (she thought he had died of AIDs too) We learn that Fiona gave birth to Claire the day Yale died. Claire thinks that Fiona resents her for not being there at the death of her friend hence why she ran away. Claire married Kurt, son of Cecily (tedious link, wasn't sure of the purpose of them being connected)

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