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qpenguin98's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
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
5.0
This was a really refreshing read. Listening especially, I think all three of the narrators did an incredible job of setting tone and voice of each of the characters and settings. It has one of the most frank and direct discussions of failed suicide that I’ve read, especially in its lack of self pitying flowery language.
I think making all of the characters flawed, some more than others, really helps ground you in their pieces. No one in this book is perfect and that's what makes them all so lifelike.
It was explicitly queer, unapologetically honest, and was a really fun listen.
I think making all of the characters flawed, some more than others, really helps ground you in their pieces. No one in this book is perfect and that's what makes them all so lifelike.
It was explicitly queer, unapologetically honest, and was a really fun listen.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Suicide
reb_knits's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
4.25
The structure got a little confusing but I loved the idea — having short stories that alternate between a central character and stories of related and unrelated other characters that enrich the themes of the main character
Definitely excited to read more from this author!
Definitely excited to read more from this author!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
bookwormdystopian2's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
maddelpop's review
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
calliejarvis's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence
daffodildyke's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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? It's complicated
2.75
“the origin of his desire to forgo meat wasn’t environmental or even about the animals really. it was selfish. because the thought of consuming dead things, when he had been so close to dying, when he had wanted to die… was too much”
I think it is very clear that the author can lovingly and realistically create characters, especially queer characters. I think the intimacy created in some of the sex scenes was very palpable and authentic, even if I didn’t personally enjoy some of them or understand what we were getting at with others.
I particularly liked parts of the exploration of polyamory with Lionel, Charles and Sophie - I liked that it was natural and normalised, and I feel like it had so much potential
I found the shortness of some stories jarring when others continued across multiple segments or chapters, and it left me wanting to know more about some of the stories, whilst also somewhat wishing it had just focused on one. I feel like Lionel was very much the character I got to know most, and I am not complaining about that, but it definitely felt unbalanced… which maybe was intentional. I think Lionel, Charles and Sophie could have been the focus of a whole novel and their domination of the collection takes away from some of the other incredibly poignant tales Taylor tells.
As an ace-spec person, maybe reading a book that largely centres on desire and sex was asking for me not to wholeheartedly enjoy it, but alas, the actual sex scenes were probably the most interesting parts of it for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Blood, Medical content, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
oconnorlizzy's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm and Suicide
Minor: Incest and Rape
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
5.0
Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor ❄️
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
❄️ In this collection of short stories, Taylor explores the emotional charge that runs just under the surface of our encounters with other people. The linked short stories at the centre of the collection focus on three people: Lionel, a PhD student recently discharged from hospital after a suicide attempt; Charles, the injured dancer who becomes attracted to Lionel at a potluck, and Sophie, Charles's dancer girlfriend. As Lionel becomes drawn into the murky waters of Charles and Sophie's relationship, he must weigh his deep loneliness against his continued vulnerability.
There's really no excuse for me putting off reading this for so long, except that I loved Real Life so much that I was afraid of having such Big Feelings again. But you know what? I was right to be, because Brandon Taylor wields his pen like a scalpel.
Throughout this book, Taylor probes what it means to be vulnerable. He is a master of illustrating the artificiality of social settings: a dinner party, a first date, a university exam. All the opaque stuff we move through to try to reach each other - or rather, to mediate our interactions so that we don't have to reach each other, so we can broadcast ourselves from a safe distance. His stories illustrate the life and feeling seething beneath this calm surface, and the moments where characters unexpectedly connect feel raw and thrilling, charged with danger.
This sense of danger is present not just as an idea but an embodied thing. Food, sex, blood, all of these things are closely connected to the emotional heart of each story. The characters' emotional fragility (or seeming lack thereof) is always carefully pitched against their physical being, the tether they have to the world, lending real weight to acts of cruelty or tenderness. There's something raw and animal and real about these stories that I couldn't help but love.
❄️ Read it if you're in the market for a short story cycle, or a wintry book as this is all snowdrifts and low-hanging skies. And obv if you loved Real Life ❤️
🚫 Avoid if you're steering clear of narratives around suicide and physical or sexual violence.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
❄️ In this collection of short stories, Taylor explores the emotional charge that runs just under the surface of our encounters with other people. The linked short stories at the centre of the collection focus on three people: Lionel, a PhD student recently discharged from hospital after a suicide attempt; Charles, the injured dancer who becomes attracted to Lionel at a potluck, and Sophie, Charles's dancer girlfriend. As Lionel becomes drawn into the murky waters of Charles and Sophie's relationship, he must weigh his deep loneliness against his continued vulnerability.
There's really no excuse for me putting off reading this for so long, except that I loved Real Life so much that I was afraid of having such Big Feelings again. But you know what? I was right to be, because Brandon Taylor wields his pen like a scalpel.
Throughout this book, Taylor probes what it means to be vulnerable. He is a master of illustrating the artificiality of social settings: a dinner party, a first date, a university exam. All the opaque stuff we move through to try to reach each other - or rather, to mediate our interactions so that we don't have to reach each other, so we can broadcast ourselves from a safe distance. His stories illustrate the life and feeling seething beneath this calm surface, and the moments where characters unexpectedly connect feel raw and thrilling, charged with danger.
This sense of danger is present not just as an idea but an embodied thing. Food, sex, blood, all of these things are closely connected to the emotional heart of each story. The characters' emotional fragility (or seeming lack thereof) is always carefully pitched against their physical being, the tether they have to the world, lending real weight to acts of cruelty or tenderness. There's something raw and animal and real about these stories that I couldn't help but love.
❄️ Read it if you're in the market for a short story cycle, or a wintry book as this is all snowdrifts and low-hanging skies. And obv if you loved Real Life ❤️
🚫 Avoid if you're steering clear of narratives around suicide and physical or sexual violence.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Lesbophobia
orireading's review against another edition
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
I love love love Brandon Taylor. I think he’s my new favorite author. His characters are beautiful, wrestling with their flaws in the emotionally-complex scenarios they are thrust into, and he builds a full picture of their lives within the constrains of a short story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
lormurenzi's review
emotional
tense
slow-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Homophobia