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meeklovestoread's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I really wanted to like this book, especially considering how alluring the title was. Speaking of the title, I'd like to state that this title is quite misleading on what this book was about. Initially, I thought this book was going to explore the depths of how toxic masculinity affects the youth and how its conditioning has shaped previous generations. Although the author does displays events that depict toxic masculinity she never dives into how those principles and actions affect the main characters at all. Putting the misleading title aside, this book was actually a story about how gang culture shaped a family and its community as well as depicting the battles one faces when faced with a terminal illness.
I understand how many found this story emotional and a phenomenal piece on Dublin and the effects of gang culture and how classism plays a role. However, I felt like the issues this book was tackling were very surface-level. Joe didn't seem like a flushed-out enough character in my opinion and I don't we got enough insight into his grieving for his brother. Also, I was expecting more emotional interactions with the two brothers considering the blurb portrayed them to be very close.
I'd also like to point out that I'm not familiar with Dublin culture so many of the phrases used were very unfamiliar to me and I just didn't vibe with the way that this book was written. And the ending of this book felt very underwhelming and inconclusive What happened to his dad? Also, I'm confused about the shooting. Did he shoot his friend? I was very confused throughout a few parts of this book. Overall, the book just felt pretty surface-level and just didn't live up to what its potential in my opinion.
I understand how many found this story emotional and a phenomenal piece on Dublin and the effects of gang culture and how classism plays a role. However, I felt like the issues this book was tackling were very surface-level. Joe didn't seem like a flushed-out enough character in my opinion and I don't we got enough insight into his grieving for his brother. Also, I was expecting more emotional interactions with the two brothers considering the blurb portrayed them to be very close.
I'd also like to point out that I'm not familiar with Dublin culture so many of the phrases used were very unfamiliar to me and I just didn't vibe with the way that this book was written. And the ending of this book felt very underwhelming and inconclusive
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Classism