Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez

8 reviews

withlivjones's review

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.75

This book had a really slow start, but I’m glad I stayed with it because the second half was brilliant. This is a brutal, vivid depiction of being both black and queer in Britain, spanning from the early 2000s to the mid-2010s, as well as a prologue from the POV of a Windrush migrant in the 1950s (which seems irrelevant at first but does play a big part in the end of the book, I promise!) Mendez does a fantastic job of evoking the atmosphere and setting of the Black Country and London, and particularly the London chapters are very reminiscent of Zadie Smith’s NW in the way the city is depicted through the various characters who live there. While the first half felt rather disjointed, I loved how all the pieces eventually came together for the novel’s conclusion. I am honestly shocked that this was Mendez’s debut novel as they’ve already really honed their narrative voice, and I’m looking forward to whatever they put out next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

arlaubscher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Miscarriage

laurenw22's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was a stunning book. I loved almost every single part of it. Jesse’s voice as narrator was perfect - someone you wanted to protect when he was young and someone who became stronger and more assured at the book progressed. Personally, I didn’t find the graphic nature of the book off putting (though i didn’t expect it!) 
A seriously good read and one that opens up topics about racism, family dynamics, religion and sexuality.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death of parent

maddb_96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

lidz_2tc's review

emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Minor: Death of parent

sauvageloup's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I thought I might struggle to get into this since it's partly historical and I thought it might be a bit heavy, but I've raced through it 

Pros:
- gripping and interesting writing throughout, which hooked me in right away. felt enormous sympathy for Norman from the first pages and for Jesse as we got to know him. 
- the characters were painted so vividly that it felt like non-fic at times, like I could look them up online
- Mendez doesn't balk at any of grim realities Jesse faced, the abuse, some of the sex, the homophobia and internalised racism. there's never any shame put on Jesse for his choices by any of the decent characters and it really creates empathy
- I wanted so very badly for Jesse to do well, though I was afraid he wouldn't as there were so many ways he could've gone wrong - overdose, AIDS, or killed by a client. he wasn't like any other character I've read and I loved him
- it was strange but good to hear about the west Midlands in a book, the names of Dudley, Wolverhampton, merry Hill shopping centre, etc. all being familiar. and learning a bit more history of the area from a non-White perspective 
- the book is also firmly placed in time through the music, a lot of which I didn't know, but still created an atmosphere. moving towards the 2000s felt like coming into familiar territory as I knew much more of those ones. 
- as books like these always do, it made me think about my whiteness and what I can do to try to avoid the racism, personal and systemic, that Jesse faces. 
- I did like how the book was structured, with the kind of prologue flashback of Norman's life at the start which eventually linked to Jesse. 
- the book also raises the issue of beating kids as punishment, threatened by Norman and brutally carried out by Graham on Jesse. it's not confronted head on exactly, but I think it was clear it didn't work. 
- oh and I did appreciate that there wasn't any biphobia, since bi people sometimes seem to slip by the wayside, but here were main characters and never dismissed or not included or acknowledged. 

cons:
- I wish we had seen a bit more of Norman, since i liked him a lot, and it was tragic (but understandable I guess) that Jesse didn't get to meet his father. 
- I felt that the shift from Jesse being 'Not Okay' to him being 'Okay' was too sudden, skipped over in time hops and summerised through flashbacks. After all of Jesse's suffering, to have seen that growth and recovery in the present tense would've been more rewarding I think, though I suppose Mendez thought it was the boring part of Jesse's story, his stay with Derrick, finding Owen and Ginika again, etc. I felt a bit robbed that we didn't get that part of the story. 
- the part with Jean-Alain and Nick's dinner party right at the end, threw me a little too, but I suppose it was for the purpose of Jesse having that chat with J-A about the past. did feel stuck on the end though, like it was an extra scene randomly shoved into the main story. 

overall, though, it was hugely readable and gripping, with a lot of important narratives and ideas in there, stories which haven't been the focus in the past, and highlighting the everyday racism and homophobia people still experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

heavy, graphic sex and drug use, along with child abuse by a parent and religious bigotry

uranaishi's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Medical content, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Slavery, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Dementia, Pregnancy, and Cultural appropriation

chig_flicks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Xenophobia

Minor: Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Car accident, and Death of parent