Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - The Prettiest Star

I think AIDS crisis narratives are tricky, because unless the character was one of the exceedingly lucky ones that managed to survive until treatments became widely available, the story is more than likely to end in one way. So then the question becomes, what is the audience meant to get out of watching a character slowly die due to governmental neglect and homophobia? Some narratives answer that question in spades; "A Normal Heart" and "It's A Sin" immediately come to mind. This book, I found to be a big 'why?

Brian, a gay man with AIDS, returns home to Appalachia as he's dying to face rampant homophobia within his family and community until he eventually succumbs to his illness. It felt like his character had irresponsibly little agency. He simply existed as a mirror for the cis het characters around him to eventually understand their bigotry (through the martyrdom of his death.

I wanted to like it. It's written by a queer and trans author. But I just found myself getting angrier and angrier about what I felt was the irresponsibility of the narrative as the story went on

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remimicha's review

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challenging dark emotional 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

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mothumn's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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samuriah's review

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reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I cried through the last third of this book. I will never understand the lack of humanity in people of faith.

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reading_and_roaming20's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

Wow. Just wow. Centered around Brian, a gay man with AIDS in the late ‘80s, THE PRETTIEST STAR absolutely wrecked me.

After watching his boyfriend and the majority of his friends succumb to AIDS, Brian, who has contracted it himself, returns to his small midwestern town to live out his final days. From here, the multi-POV storyline provides a hard look at the widespread homophobia and misinformation at the height of the epidemic.

THE PRETTIEST STAR is honest and holds nothing back, including the brutal physical realities of having AIDS. (Keep this in mind if descriptions of the illness may be too much.) I appreciated that this book didn’t make Brian’s long awaited return home into any sort of fairytale. His family has a lot to reckon with when it comes to their own prejudice and the judgement and outright hatred of a community rich with homophobia and ignorance. It all felt very realistic and was truly heartbreaking.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom as there were certainly some aspects of hope and characters who bring goodness and light to Brian’s life. It makes you want to reach through the pages to give them each a big, long hug. My favorite was Brian’s grandmother, whose unconditional love and support is such a special aspect of this story. Reading about her brought me joy.

This book, this book, this book. It hit me deep in my soul and has stayed with me. The ending had me in the kind of puddle of emotion where you just have to sit in the quiet for a bit to take it all in. Just trying to find an appropriate conclusion to this review has me lost for words, as I’ve found myself back in that place of reflection. So I’ll just say this…I highly, highly, highly recommend you check out this book.

(I would also recommend that you look into content warnings prior to reading.)

Content Warnings

maiahhtratchh's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book. Holy f*ck. It might be one of the saddest most upsetting but beautiful books I’ve ever read. I swear I haven’t cried as much reading a book as I did with this one. The characters each elicited such strong reactions from me. I’ve read a few comments saying that the point of view of the family made it harder to connect with Brian and I would disagree. I think that the altering points of view accomplished what they were supposed to, show the realities and complexities of family relationships and queerness during the early days of the AIDS crisis. And I was still able to connect with and understand Brian through his video diaries, his actions, and the love his family felt for him despite their ignorance. This book should be read with the understanding that the primary points of view are told through the mother and sister and feature a TON of familial homophobia in the prose. Would I read this book again? Good question. I would definitely recommend it but I would have to be in the right headspace to read it again because it’s just so intense.

I’m SO upset with how it ended with Travis and Brian. I kept expecting and hoping he would BE THERE and he would tell Brian he loved him at the end ANYTHING. I did love how the last point of view was from Travis as I was thinking throughout it that I wanted to know what was going on in his mind and while the last chapter finally shed light it did not absolve his actions. The small poem at the end also hurt as it showed all Brian wanted was that love and acceptance from his parents- as every child does, specifically those who have been shunned. I understand why it happened that way. It was realistic of the time and story that not everyone would be able to put aside their ignorance or complex feelings at the end. I did find it interesting the similarities between Travis reacting to Brian throughout the book and how Brian recounted his reaction in Shaun’s last days.

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jvanfosson's review

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

coltons1996's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

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