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ehknits's review
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Physical abuse and Abortion
potterpav's review
reflective
tense
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? Yes
3.0
i don’t really know what to make of this book.. i really enjoyed the first half, esp the “ivan the terrible” chapter, as i found ivan to be the most interesting character of all, but i don’t know whether my dissatisfaction has to do with the characters or the fact it was a short story collection. it was probably “the point” to not like any of the characters, they were all very pretentious but i assumed it was on purpose, and i found their conversations very taxing to read again and again as they kept arguing over the same points but not doing anything about it.
it’s a shame bc the woman with the sturgeon farm (Bea) was my fav chapter, but she appears briefly for 20 pages and is never seen again - and i realise i liked this the most bc it was something different to the rest of the book. it’s so focused around men that i got a glimpse of a woman and fell to my knees with joy, only for her to leave as quickly as she arrived. fatima was also so enclosed in a man’s world, and the women in seamus’s poetry class were unkind, purposefully-ignorant. i feel like that’s what most of the book can be drilled down to: none of the conversations match up. the characters just say a sentence that has a perfectly normal response (“how are you feeling?” “i’m okay, how are you?”) but instead they just talk to each other in mismatched sentences. it’s probably supposed to show how self-centred they all are, but after 300 pages it just gets annoying.
if you like passive yet irritating characters who come from wealth, are all basically the same (to the point where names mean nothing), are all in one big casual friends w benefits relationship, and books where there’s many, MANY characters .. this is for you. writing was beautiful if not a bit too poetic sometimes, i felt the point got lost occasionally, but yeah. some bits really were stunning, but overall it was just a bit .. flat. i suppose.
it’s a shame bc the woman with the sturgeon farm (Bea) was my fav chapter, but she appears briefly for 20 pages and is never seen again - and i realise i liked this the most bc it was something different to the rest of the book. it’s so focused around men that i got a glimpse of a woman and fell to my knees with joy, only for her to leave as quickly as she arrived. fatima was also so enclosed in a man’s world, and the women in seamus’s poetry class were unkind, purposefully-ignorant. i feel like that’s what most of the book can be drilled down to: none of the conversations match up. the characters just say a sentence that has a perfectly normal response (“how are you feeling?” “i’m okay, how are you?”) but instead they just talk to each other in mismatched sentences. it’s probably supposed to show how self-centred they all are, but after 300 pages it just gets annoying.
if you like passive yet irritating characters who come from wealth, are all basically the same (to the point where names mean nothing), are all in one big casual friends w benefits relationship, and books where there’s many, MANY characters .. this is for you. writing was beautiful if not a bit too poetic sometimes, i felt the point got lost occasionally, but yeah. some bits really were stunning, but overall it was just a bit .. flat. i suppose.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Hate crime, Homophobia, and Abortion
bg_oseman_fan'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? Yes
4.25
I enjoyed that this book took on multiple characters that have certain things in common, but also had unique situations or points of view. the author did a good job of presenting his characters in their own stories and when viewed by others. some of the stories did t particularly make a strong impression on me, while others were really interesting and engaging. a worthwhile read if you enjoy short stories in a contemporary setting with lgbtq+ themes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Sexism, Violence, Abortion, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Cursing, Racism, Terminal illness, and Kidnapping
mr_cain's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcohol
joensign's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Infidelity and Abortion
marjoleinvanderspoel's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
4.5
Brandon Taylor is possibly the best writer of our generation. And yet, this is not his strongest work. These are some of my jumbled, incoherent thoughts upon finishing it. The writing is so so good, most of the characters are really interesting, but the chapters about women were such a disappointment and the connections between the chapters is tenuous at best. Caught somewhere between short stories and a novel, it felt like this book wanted to express many things but in the end it didn't really... go anywhere. I could identify an overarching theme of how your predetermined living conditions affect your life choices or lack thereof (there was a lot of focus on class but also for instance adoption, traumas and injuries which alter your perception of and course in life). I think Taylor does a great job of writing characters caught in between big decisions and that definitely shines here, and his characters also feel very real in that they make shitty choices sometimes, but I just wished there was something more to tie the stories together somehow. No wonder Seamus felt like the strongest character when he was the only one who got more than one chapter, and yet his story still felt unfinished. But so is life, a story as of yet unfinished. Excited to see what Taylor does next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Abortion
iridescencedeep's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Uses "beautiful" 23 times.
Writing is gorgeous. Murky. There's tension in every conversation. Lots of meaning in the small details, in these people's lives, or maybe Taylor is just imagining it. Sex, sometimes meaningful but mostly otherwise. In another sense, always meaningful, because what else could have meaning.
^ That's the vibe, with a slightly higher density of five dollar words.
(personal note: date started is approximate)
Writing is gorgeous. Murky. There's tension in every conversation. Lots of meaning in the small details, in these people's lives, or maybe Taylor is just imagining it. Sex, sometimes meaningful but mostly otherwise. In another sense, always meaningful, because what else could have meaning.
^ That's the vibe, with a slightly higher density of five dollar words.
(personal note: date started is approximate)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence
alyssaakdefusco's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The prose of this book is gorgeous, which is fitting because it starts out from the perspective of creative writing grad students! As a current grad student, I related to the struggles of the characters in figuring out their place in the world and always having to prove themselves to each other (and...to themselves!) it was fairly slow moving and definitely a character study/moment-in-time type of book which isn't always my favorite. I liked the shifting narrators.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Abortion
simplyamysue's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Moderate: Death and Drug use
Minor: Abortion
kitaface's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, Abortion, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death and Kidnapping