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A review by stabilesero
All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
I really wanted to love this book, especially with all the high ratings and praise everywhere but this just fell so short from the mark.
This has potential; if Burks left out the unnecessary snippets of her life (i.e. relationship with Mitch) and the grating repetitive nature of "I'm short of money" to "oh I know a guy, boom, I have $250".
It had me with mixed feelings because I really felt for the young men she cared for and helped, their stories really hit hard how cruel others were and how discriminated against they were. The desperate need for medical help and the appalling treatment they received.
This book also heavily knelt on religion and church which again, I found boring and tiresome as although I appreciate Burks' involvement with religion; it was another part that was unnecessarily dragged out and could have shortened the novel by qt least 100 pages.
I'm sure there are better novels out there about individuals who helped with the movement towards fairer treatment of HIV and AIDS patients and that's not to dismiss Burks' work, that's just to say I'm hoping there's other stories out there with more focus on the work and less on the religious uproar.
This has potential; if Burks left out the unnecessary snippets of her life (i.e. relationship with Mitch) and the grating repetitive nature of "I'm short of money" to "oh I know a guy, boom, I have $250".
It had me with mixed feelings because I really felt for the young men she cared for and helped, their stories really hit hard how cruel others were and how discriminated against they were. The desperate need for medical help and the appalling treatment they received.
This book also heavily knelt on religion and church which again, I found boring and tiresome as although I appreciate Burks' involvement with religion; it was another part that was unnecessarily dragged out and could have shortened the novel by qt least 100 pages.
I'm sure there are better novels out there about individuals who helped with the movement towards fairer treatment of HIV and AIDS patients and that's not to dismiss Burks' work, that's just to say I'm hoping there's other stories out there with more focus on the work and less on the religious uproar.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Grief