Reviews

I'll Take Everything You Have by James Klise

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takingoverthesun's review

4.25

I loved reading about 1930s queer Chicago! Bonus points of a beautiful cover! I was interested in the plot the whole time and there was definitely a little bit of a plot twist! My downside with this book is that the character development could’ve been better. I didn’t care for Joe too much but I wanted to root for him more.

booksofastoria's review

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3.0

This one was a little difficult to love as the story went on honestly. Initially I was super intrigued and into the plot and what was gonna happen about it all because you know its not exactly gonna end well with what Joe was set up into but I think it fell flat ultimately. The stakes were set to be really high but I think I expected a little too much and got disapointed by it. Joe's cousin pissed me off a lot because his intentions never seemed pure, it always felt like he was on the edge of screwing him over family ties be damned. I never trusted him even a tiny bit. Honestly though nobody in this book seemed trustable as I kept reading, plenty likeable but the way its written tells you not shit should be trusted. Even if I was dissapointed with the ending I will say the plot took unexpected turns, and it was fun to explore this troubled NYC criminal world, I kinda wish we got more of it. But I get why we didnt, Joe was already struggling with what he was doing it wouldnt have made sense to have him get in any deeper. This book has its right audience and im sure someone will absolutely love it, but it just wasnt my most favorite thing.

solenophage's review

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

This was a decent, quick read, but not very engaging for me. It was less crime thriller than the summary lead me to expect and more of a slice-of-life, queer coming-of-age, which was fine by me, I'm just as interested in historical queer stories. However, I couldn't connect well with the characters and didn't find much interest in their relationships. The importance of building a queer community or support network was given lip service, but it never got flesh out and the underground queer culture was not shown all that much.

missmeganmann's review

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dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I don’t know. I love the history in this, of both Chicago and the LGBTQIA+ community in the early 1930s, but I don’t know. something just didn’t resonate with me about Joe. I don’t think I really liked him. And I don’t think I liked how he was so eager to get money any which way and then was super dramatic about it when he did? And the bit with the liquor guy just…ended? I don’t know. Some bits felt super rushed.

Good ending, but getting there was tough.

justinlife's review

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adventurous dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

This book was fine. You can tell it’s well researched but it felt like a chore and I couldn’t tell who the audience was supposed to be. Good for hun for writing a YA gay coming of age set in 1930s Chicago.