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herbiehickmott's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
A concise and effective gut punch. Torres finds a way to pack an incredible amount of heart and intense emotion into a sliver of a book. He creates a world that feels so fully realized, it’s hard to believe this is fiction.
I could practically see/touch/smell/hear the family in this book (three brothers and their parents). Their needs, actions, thoughts feel so real and true.
It’s heartbreaking and honest.
Started this on the train to the airport and finished it on the plane.
I could practically see/touch/smell/hear the family in this book (three brothers and their parents). Their needs, actions, thoughts feel so real and true.
It’s heartbreaking and honest.
Started this on the train to the airport and finished it on the plane.
riveraanahiz's review against another edition
3.0
I've been recommended this book several times and while I enjoyed the book, I have to say I'm pretty disappointed. The book focuses on the author's parents' violent and volatile relationship, which then allowed him and his older brothers, unsupervised, to act like animals. There is a lot of language related to animals and nature used throughout the book and the essays are well-written, but they lacked depth to me. I feel like there were a lot of times when Torres could've gone more in-depth, especially at the end. The second to last piece in the book drops a BOMB on the reader in the middle of nowhere and leaves the reader wanting more and asking questions that may never be answered (unless Justin Torres writes a book about it, which he probably could and should). I also found myself confused when reading that piece, titled, "The Night I am Made" is written in a completely different style than the rest of the book, as well as at other points throughout the book, finding the setting to be a bit unclear, but even more so wanting to know the author's age in several pieces, as it was only mentioned once in the piece "Seven," where - you guessed it - he turns seven years old. Nevertheless, I think the book started off great, though it had the potential to be better. I'd recommend giving it a read just once.
gracemmccarty's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
jwn's review against another edition
3.0
Lyrically written - pulling from snapshots of the narrator's life and perspective, the reader is provided vivid details and insight.
mmsolheim's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
3.5
It’s difficult to say I enjoyed this book. It was pretty dark and the ending bleak. The writing was good though.
ylanday's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
nolemdaer's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
It's hard to rate this when I find the subject matter so unappealing. Good writing (duh) and interesting pacing until the final section, which was inchoate.
skynet666's review against another edition
3.0
Sorry, but I'm going to have to buck the trend and not go on and on about how wonderful this book was to read. I'm rating it on how much I liked it, although I understand that the author is very talented. Many comment on the wonderful lyrical prose - but it wasn't enough to get me past "good". I'm glad that it was very short.
karkarvroom's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0