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tashadandelion's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This has all the earmarks of a literary hard-hitter, most especially those razor-sharp insights into the human condition. Though I'm neither young, gay, or a man, the viewpoint character, Michael, who is a young, gay man, comes across well-wrought and realistic to me. His ambivalent compassion for star-crossed Bunny is steeped in a tender pathos and confusion that I completely understood and recognized from the nuances of real life long-term friendships. Underlying the story is a feminist condemnation of the manipulation of Bunny to her future doom -- first by the justice system (violent women get the book thrown at them compared to violent men) and then by her own father, who exploits her size, strength, and athleticism in the boxing ring, long after she should have stopped due to multiple traumatic brain injuries (concussions). I'll probably think about this one for a while yet to come.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, and Medical trauma