Reviews

The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr

leahthenerd's review

slow-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? No

2.5

The writing was good, but it was a very quiet nonevent book. I like the hallucinations 

jlhensley's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

lizardking_no1's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

stitching_ghost's review

3.0

It was ok.

The writing style was really pleasant but it failed to deliver any sense of tension or stake so while there was a plot it didn't feel like there was anything to get really invested in.

Worth reading for the quality of the prose and of the research the author put into her writing.

debmed's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

jrosenstein's review

4.0

The Sleeping Car Porter is written brilliantly from the perspective of its protagonist, a Black railroad porter named Baxter on a transcontinental run from Montreal to Vancouver in the early 1930s. That also makes it a difficult read. Baxter is so crushingly sleep-deprived that he hallucinates constantly and he is oppressed by an iron weight of anxiety that he will be fired and deprived of the chance to save up enough for dental school, and also that he will be outed as a gay man and arrested. Mayr masterfully evokes this atmosphere of hallucinatory dread almost too well. Reading it is sometimes oppressive and exhausting but the reader also intensely feels Baxter's brief moments of joy and relief. And I certainly finished the book full of admiration for these porters who had to endure inhumane working conditions while never letting their facade of humility and geniality slip.

matty_braugen's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

mithalogy's review against another edition

4.5

Good detailed slice of life, interesting side characters

megwheeler's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

Started in 2023, finished in 2024. 

talia1007's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

3.25