parkergarlough's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
made me want a summer fling so bad. not sure why it softened the role of the cops so much from the event it was based on though.
lferneau's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting book but narrative started to drag in places. Loved the scenes with music
bookgoonie's review against another edition
3.0
Original review posted @ www.bookgoonie.com July 2011
http://wp.me/p1h3Ps-nC
This book has been described as a rough gem. A rough gem--not because it isn't polished, but because it is real. Set on the streets of Brooklyn, rough, broken, not pretty to the average person...the perfect backdrop. Reading Kid's story felt like watching an art film. You felt like you were there. A kind of day in the life. I wasn't sure if there was going to be a happy ending for Kid. Life can't always do a 180 in 200 pages, so I wasn't sure if Kid was going to make it to the other side.
[Felix to Kid] I felt him shrug against me. "I like the sunrise," he said. "But I prefer the sunset, because at least it's honest."..."The sunrise is the rebirth, the promise the sun makes every morning: 'I'm here to stay,'" Felix said. "But it's bullshit. Because every night, it just leaves again."
Kid lives on the street, partially due to her dad and part her own decision. When her father refers to her as "this", my heart broke. What makes it sad is that this isn't an isolated incident. There are so many parents that degrade their children with words or actions. Whether it is over gender identity or career choice, words hurt. Gender identity and preference is part of the angst of this book. I was frustrated not knowing at first, but by the end I think it was why I liked it. Not knowing allowed me to look at Kid and Scout as people. Kid is a great character. She is strong, a great artist, and maintains her innocence. Besides drinking, she doesn't get involved in any of the darker aspects of living on the streets. Her street family is made up of a unique cast of characters, but you love them for their sincere love and caring about Kid.
The music scenes in the book are beautiful. Like poetry themselves. They are what originally drew me into the story. I stayed around for the tortured artist story and got something much better.
"The tone was like honey, better than anything Felix had ever gotten out of the amp, and your voice was more delicious still--warm and sweet, but there was a darkness in it, and it showed me all those places I'd seen in your eyes."
http://wp.me/p1h3Ps-nC
This book has been described as a rough gem. A rough gem--not because it isn't polished, but because it is real. Set on the streets of Brooklyn, rough, broken, not pretty to the average person...the perfect backdrop. Reading Kid's story felt like watching an art film. You felt like you were there. A kind of day in the life. I wasn't sure if there was going to be a happy ending for Kid. Life can't always do a 180 in 200 pages, so I wasn't sure if Kid was going to make it to the other side.
[Felix to Kid] I felt him shrug against me. "I like the sunrise," he said. "But I prefer the sunset, because at least it's honest."..."The sunrise is the rebirth, the promise the sun makes every morning: 'I'm here to stay,'" Felix said. "But it's bullshit. Because every night, it just leaves again."
Kid lives on the street, partially due to her dad and part her own decision. When her father refers to her as "this", my heart broke. What makes it sad is that this isn't an isolated incident. There are so many parents that degrade their children with words or actions. Whether it is over gender identity or career choice, words hurt. Gender identity and preference is part of the angst of this book. I was frustrated not knowing at first, but by the end I think it was why I liked it. Not knowing allowed me to look at Kid and Scout as people. Kid is a great character. She is strong, a great artist, and maintains her innocence. Besides drinking, she doesn't get involved in any of the darker aspects of living on the streets. Her street family is made up of a unique cast of characters, but you love them for their sincere love and caring about Kid.
The music scenes in the book are beautiful. Like poetry themselves. They are what originally drew me into the story. I stayed around for the tortured artist story and got something much better.
"The tone was like honey, better than anything Felix had ever gotten out of the amp, and your voice was more delicious still--warm and sweet, but there was a darkness in it, and it showed me all those places I'd seen in your eyes."
araleith's review against another edition
1.0
I spent this entire book waiting to care about any of it. It never happened.
bsaifs's review against another edition
2.0
well the main characters romance was cute. i didnt understand how kid fell in love with scout. kid just seemed like the type of person to fall hard for people very quickly and scout was a new person could fall in love with. i didnt get it. but it was cute. we barely knew anything about scout. when scout talked there were just lines describing how scout would talk abd how kid qas enamored. but there could have been quotes of scout actually talking. all i know is that scout sings and not where scout is from or anything. i liked the premise of the book but i felt like the fact that they had no pronouns or gender should have been specified. it was once very rudely pointed out by kids dad but to me it felt like the author thought it would be cool to just not mention either characters gender without specifying that they were nonbinary, agender or just had no gender. i just would have liked the characters say that they did not identify within the gender binary or something.
choirqueer's review against another edition
5.0
As a nonbinary-gendered person, I often despair of ever finding people like me represented in literature. This book does it, and does it extremely well. This is an exquisitely crafted work of art, portraying love and loss and community and grief and passion through the eyes of a teenager whose family situation is all too real for many of us who have come out as transgender, genderqueer, or otherwise nonbinary-gendered. Some parts definitely were a little "too real" for me, so it was a deeply emotional experience for me to read this, but the author handled the sensitive spots really well and it didn't feel like the reader's vulnerability was ever used in a manipulative way.
I loved this book so much. I'm only sad that there isn't more of it.
I loved this book so much. I'm only sad that there isn't more of it.
nematome's review against another edition
3.0
This book came as quite a little surprise. I recently finished The Absolute Value of -1, which was gorgeous but also full of difficult characters and had a heartbreaking ending. So, I really did not expect this book to have:
a) a sweet love story
or
b) a joyously happy ending.
Let’s review what I thought this book was about: homeless teenage runaways, intolerant parents, and gender identity. You can see why I did not think this book was going to be a happy one. But guess what? This is a lovely, happy, beautiful book!
I know that most of the people who read these reviews probably know that I am not a huge fan of over the top, happily ever after type endings. When I read an ending like that, it really challenges my ability to buy in to the story. So, I just want to say thank you thank you thank you to Steve Brezenoff for giving me a beautiful soul healing happy ending that I can actually get behind. This is the kind of happy ending that’s supported by substance, and tempered with bittersweet uncertainty; i.e. my favorite kind.
“Kid” is one of the most endearing characters I’ve come across. He’s somehow retained a large measure of youthful innocence, hope, and earnestness while dealing with her parents’ abandonment and struggling to survive as a homeless teen in Brooklyn. She’s supported by a motley and damaged group of characters that love and understand him: Konny, the Amazon goddess and comic book expert; Jonny, the affectionate prostitute who’s there every summer with free drinks and a shoulder to cry on; Fish, the bartender and substitute mother for lost teens; and Felix, the gifted musician and junkie that was his first love, and her first loss.
You may have noticed that I was a bit unclear with the pronouns there. That’s because Kid doesn’t define himself either way. We get to see this story through her eyes, as he meets and falls for someone new, but can’t stop reliving the grief of her previous summer on the street. The love interest, Scout, is addressed as “you” throughout the story (so we never get to know Scout’s gender either). I think that this lends a large amount of intimacy to the story: it’s as if Kid is sharing her bittersweet memories with a dear friend.
The only criticism I have is that the real estate developer/conspiracy plot line felt a little bit shoe-horned in to the story. But this book just made me feel so warm and content and joyful that who cares about a little thing like that? I think that this will end up with a higher rating than The Absolute Value of -1, simply because it is such a feel-good book. I recommend this for everyone!
Perfect Musical Pairing
The National – About Today
This book is also a bit of a love story to Brooklyn (with a few affectionate jabs). So of course I had to pick something from Brooklyn based The National. This song reminds me of Kid’s heart break at the assumption that Scout will eventually have to leave the neighborhood and leave her alone.
”Brooklyn was my home, and I loved it – I always had – but my heart had grown, and filling it now was Brooklyn and you. With summer ending, you could be gone – could have been already – and with my heart this big, Brooklyn didn’t stand a chance of filling it up without you. I squeezed the pick in my hand tightly, like I could hold on to you.”
a) a sweet love story
or
b) a joyously happy ending.
Let’s review what I thought this book was about: homeless teenage runaways, intolerant parents, and gender identity. You can see why I did not think this book was going to be a happy one. But guess what? This is a lovely, happy, beautiful book!
I know that most of the people who read these reviews probably know that I am not a huge fan of over the top, happily ever after type endings. When I read an ending like that, it really challenges my ability to buy in to the story. So, I just want to say thank you thank you thank you to Steve Brezenoff for giving me a beautiful soul healing happy ending that I can actually get behind. This is the kind of happy ending that’s supported by substance, and tempered with bittersweet uncertainty; i.e. my favorite kind.
“Kid” is one of the most endearing characters I’ve come across. He’s somehow retained a large measure of youthful innocence, hope, and earnestness while dealing with her parents’ abandonment and struggling to survive as a homeless teen in Brooklyn. She’s supported by a motley and damaged group of characters that love and understand him: Konny, the Amazon goddess and comic book expert; Jonny, the affectionate prostitute who’s there every summer with free drinks and a shoulder to cry on; Fish, the bartender and substitute mother for lost teens; and Felix, the gifted musician and junkie that was his first love, and her first loss.
You may have noticed that I was a bit unclear with the pronouns there. That’s because Kid doesn’t define himself either way. We get to see this story through her eyes, as he meets and falls for someone new, but can’t stop reliving the grief of her previous summer on the street. The love interest, Scout, is addressed as “you” throughout the story (so we never get to know Scout’s gender either). I think that this lends a large amount of intimacy to the story: it’s as if Kid is sharing her bittersweet memories with a dear friend.
The only criticism I have is that the real estate developer/conspiracy plot line felt a little bit shoe-horned in to the story. But this book just made me feel so warm and content and joyful that who cares about a little thing like that? I think that this will end up with a higher rating than The Absolute Value of -1, simply because it is such a feel-good book. I recommend this for everyone!
Perfect Musical Pairing
The National – About Today
This book is also a bit of a love story to Brooklyn (with a few affectionate jabs). So of course I had to pick something from Brooklyn based The National. This song reminds me of Kid’s heart break at the assumption that Scout will eventually have to leave the neighborhood and leave her alone.
”Brooklyn was my home, and I loved it – I always had – but my heart had grown, and filling it now was Brooklyn and you. With summer ending, you could be gone – could have been already – and with my heart this big, Brooklyn didn’t stand a chance of filling it up without you. I squeezed the pick in my hand tightly, like I could hold on to you.”
heykellyjensen's review against another edition
4.0
4.5.
A slow paced love story -- a love story between people and places. I really dig the gender bending here so much, and I've got reason to believe this one could have a real shot at a Stonewall this year.
Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2011/08/brooklyn-burning-by-steve-brezenoff.html
A slow paced love story -- a love story between people and places. I really dig the gender bending here so much, and I've got reason to believe this one could have a real shot at a Stonewall this year.
Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2011/08/brooklyn-burning-by-steve-brezenoff.html
ethanethan's review against another edition
4.0
great read. I love how the gender of the main characters is never revealed, not even at the end.