A review by breauseph
No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

My greatest hope is that readers believe this book. I've been working in digital media for ten years, and the accuracy and clear-sightedness with which Lockwood manages to portray what it's like to be a content creator, to be Extremely Online, was surreal, particularly in the moments when it felt like the narrator was scratching at the inside of her own skull, trying to figure out whether her thoughts were her own, trying to understand what a legacy means when THIS is what you do for a living. Also spookily accurate was the second half of the book, the effect of tragedy and real, breathing life on your thoughts, your sense of legacy. This was catharsis. I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, and Medical trauma

From my perspective, this book does a good job of celebrating disability and difference. There is a key character with a serious genetic disorder who is cherished, admired, loved, and encouraged for exactly who she is.