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mdarceyhall's review
4.0
For the first half of this book, I was certain this would be a five-star read. Taylor is an absolutely phenomenal writer, and along with his moving prose, he communicated so many thoughtful sentiments about art, social class, academia, and relationships. Like some other reviews have pointed out, there are a lot of characters in this novel. Like, War and Peace-esque character list. Some remain, some disappear after the second chapter. Some were developed really well, like Seamus, where others, like Fatima, felt like a last minute addition. A little past the halfway mark, I started losing track of who was who, who was with who, who was sleeping with who, etc. This became problematic by the ending scene where the large group comes together, as I couldn't remember the contexts of the relationships. And while I like the shifting PoV with each chapter, I do wish the many different pieces synthesized together a little more clearly. Nonetheless, this is still a remarkable book, and I appreciate all the food for thought Taylor provided.
belanaborealis's review against another edition
3.75
i honestly feel very conflicted about this book. i found a lot of the characters very compelling but there were way too many and i lost view of who was fucking who. also why did the summary on the back specifically mention seamus, fyodor, ivan, noah and fatima as being a circle of friends but then they barely interacted as a group and the last group at the house was totally different people. and also i didn't like that there wasn't more of a resolution to the whole bert thing. i feel like the potential of this book was very good but the execution a bit lacking.
zzzzzzzzzzzz's review
emotional
reflective
slow-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? Yes
3.75
emceeee's review
3.0
brandon taylor's writing is such a beautiful gift to the world, but i just could not get into this (beyond the first story, which was captivating)—it felt like versions of the same story, with variations on the same characters, getting told over & over. perhaps there's something in the water in iowa city that makes people chronically unable to have functional relationships.
cdleonard's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
naurwheregirl's review
reflective
slow-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
2.0
it’s giving morning pages
johnnyphonny's review
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
3.75
There’s nothing revelatory here thematically speaking - over-stimulated 20-somethings struggle to find meaning in their lives - but the elegance of the writing and the detailed knowledge of the slightly unusual milieu - grad school poets and dancers - mark The Late Americans as an exceptional example of its type.
gewills97's review against another edition
4.0
I love love love Brandon Taylor’s writing but something about this fell short of a 5*