Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez

10 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

bookshelfhannah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

ramreadsagain's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

"When did you last read a novel about a young, black, gay, Jehovah's Witness man from wolverhampton who flees his community to make his way in London as a prostitute?" - Bernardine Evaristo.

I really liked this story of family, religion, identity and nationality (and also daddy issues). It's written so tenderly in a way that makes you really feel what Jesse feels as he crashes through early adulthood. I also feel like I've learnt a lot from it.

The last 100 pages were less good, featuring a 14 year time jump where a lot has magically developed and improved without us able to actually see Jesse experience it. I also found some of the commentary in the final chapters a bit heavy-handed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and War

Minor: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Outing

littlefish's review against another edition

emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Car accident

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

darkmattersoybean's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Miscarriage

auteaandtales's review

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

4.0

This was such a powerful story! I really enjoyed it, for the most part. It was very raw and emotional, yet somehow still quite funny in parts. As a white person myself, it was insightful in the life of a gay black man who grew up in a highly religious and abusive family, and what it was like to be a sex worker in the 2000’s. I believe this is Paul’s true story, told through Jesse, and I always find true (even semi-true) books hard to review, like reviewing someone’s personal life, but it was well written. 

My negatives though that I feel need to be said is that I found it odd how someone who is clearly intelligent, well read and educated and heavily left wing could still be fatphobic. It wasn’t frequent but it was frequent enough, and I expected it to be addressed or something at some point but it never was. He mentioned when someone was thin once as a positive, but all the occasions he mentioned someone was fat it was done negatively. 

I also didn’t like that it kept bouncing between timelines, by the end of the book it wasn’t as hard to follow but especially to begin with it was hard to know where we were in Jesse’s life and when. 

Definitely one to read for those interested! A solid four star read for me, I think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

Moderate: Fatphobia and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Dementia, and Pregnancy

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Outing, and Alcohol