The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
changelingreader_adrian's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Homophobia, Cancer, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, and Excrement
smolfrog's review
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Homophobia
Moderate: Cancer, Sexism, and Misogyny
sydapel's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Alcohol, Excrement, Cancer, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
daffodildyke's review against another edition
- 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.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Minor: Medical content, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Racial slurs, Cancer, and Blood
samarakroeger's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I will read anything Brandon Taylor writes.
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Outing, Self harm, Cancer, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
anawest's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Blood, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Rape, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, and Homophobia
marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, and Cancer
Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal death, Addiction, and Domestic abuse
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
- 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
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
❄️ 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.
Moderate: Cancer, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Vomit, and Sexual assault
lumoon33's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, Violence, Rape, Sexual content, and Homophobia
tree_branch's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Homophobia
Minor: Cancer, Stalking, Sexual content, and Outing