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cgreenstein's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I didn't expect to like this, but I did. It also wasn't as bleak as I expected. I read articles about it that said it was uncompromisingly pessimistic, but I didn't find that to be the case-- there are little glimmers in the midst of the violence and debauchery and senseless posturing that did give me hope for some of the characters. As for the ones who did meet bad ends, I honestly really liked how this book handled that; it's different from most other books in that these characters aren't innocents who are unwillingly forced into crime. They experience things that make it harder for them to have a peaceful adult life, definitely, but the men who star in this book engage in violence because they want to, and they don't feel remorse about it. The agency given to the key characters was refreshing; Gabriel and his friends are not misled objects of pity. They are adults who are capable of making choices for themselves, and they freely make choices that result in imprisonment, early death, and emptiness. This book explores those choices and their implications and makes it clear that the "oh, poor so-and-so, their circumstances made a life of crime inevitable" narrative is reductive, dehumanizing, and false. Obviously people commit crimes for a wide range of reasons and due to a complex set of factors, but I appreciate that this book showed that sometimes some people voluntarily choose to be criminals and choose to stay criminals. Not everyone who is in prison is a victim of circumstance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail