Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

36 reviews

stierwood's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

Everything about this book made sense. It had me thinking about whiteness in communication and friendships, and Wallace was a character exploration i had never read anything like. At first i was like ok, enough with the birds, but by the end i feel like i got it. Just really freaking astute, gutting, challenging, everything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

slintangel's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse

yaelm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

יש לי בעיה קשה עם הספר הזה, כי הוא כתוב -נהדר- ממש, וחלקים גדולים ממנו מופלאים ברמת חמישה כוכבים, אבל החלקים שלא כ״כ מעצבנים שאני לא יכולה, פשוט לא יכולה, לדרג ביותר משלושה.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

ashleyj_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This gets very intense at some parts, but it’s so good. Wallace’s story is gut-wrenching in the best and worst ways. Some pieces are very relatable for me too. The reflection that comes from reading this (as a white woman) is exceptionally deep. 
I recommend this book for everyone who can handle the content!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Toxic relationship

ejanephillips's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Violence and Vomit

megpotter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

I have never read a book quite like this. Taylor's prose is beautiful and visceral, and I feel like this will be a classic in the not to far off future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship

ecn's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

2.75

This book was very triggering and emotionally exhausting but the overall premise was interesting. Maybe not my thing? But I wanted more of an exploration than explicit trauma

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

hollieadaw's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Infidelity, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

real life is an introspective, melancholically realistic read that's startlingly sublime and nuanced, and i quite liked it up until towards the end where my enjoyment unfortunately wanes for a few reasons.

this book masterfully captures the bone-deep exhaustion of a queer black man navigating adulthood who's been through - is still going through - a lot of shit, and flays open the world's bullshit for all to see. taylor offers a deep, skeptical exploration of the world of academia - and by extension the main character wallace's escape of his source of trauma - and asks: is this real life, a life spent in labs, cocooned from the outside world? is staying in one's comfort zone truly better than taking one's chances in harsh reality?

i enjoy the illustration of subtle maneuvering and socializing as well, how a person - specifically someone deemed a minority or different - has to be sacrified for the comfort of the greater group around both the literal and proverbial table. the microaggressions and sometimes overt racism endured by wallace are scream-inducing and infuriating, once again shedding light on the reality of black folks and how white ppl gonna white ppl, even the supposedly 'good' ones. most of the characters are also nuanced and multidimensional.

however, i find the writing to be a lil stiff at times esp in the beginning. the long soliloquys on birds and the like - even though i kinda get their symbolic significance - also annoy me, as they sometimes seem too out-of-the-blue and affect the pacing.

nevertheless, my personal dislike of the lack of character growth is what most affects the book's overall rating towards the end. i respect the author's decision and am aware that it'd be unrealistic for wallace to significantly develop or change in some way w/in the period of one friggin weekend. what bothers me actually isnt the lack of character development but the character's unwillingness to change - maybe even overt avoidance or active decision to self-destruct - despite being aware of his own faults, though to be fair it's perhaps a result of his trauma and family conditioning. still, too much has happened for there to not be any change, yet awareness might be the first step towards it. 

overall, this is a novel that subtly yet powerfully explores its themes, main character, and the world around him, esp in regards to racism and mental illness, though i personally would've liked more subtle interspersing of symbolism and more character development.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Rape, Violence, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer, Vomit, and Abandonment

samarakroeger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.25

Christopher Isherwood meets Transcendent Kingdom meets Bryan Washington (???) -- I'm doing that thing again where I end up picking up books that are pretty different on the surface but end up covering very similar themes/topics or have similar tones.  Real Life takes place over a very short time period and deals with queerness, otherness, and grief like A Single Man, and the coldness of the tone is almost dissociative, like Isherwood.  It also has a similar setting to Transcendent Kingdom (Black grad student from Alabama studying STEM at a PWI) and for some reason I can't quite place Brandon Taylor's writing reminds me of Bryan Washington.  Both Memorial and Real Life fail to show a single healthy relationship and both have "unsatisfying" endings (which I personally appreciate).  If you liked any of these elements in other books, you might really like Real Life.

Real Life honestly sometimes felt a little too real, certainly very raw and almost dejected.  I'm glad I didn't read this while I was struggling to slog through my STEM degree and frequently felt like I didn't belong there.  The Imposter Syndrome vibes are very very strong and honestly is a bit of a trigger warning if that would hit too close to home at the moment.  If you're feeling very lonely and lost in the world, proceed with caution.  I felt it perfectly captured the Midwestern microaggression flavor and casual racism/sexism/homophobia in a place that is "proud of being woke and liberal" but is still overwhelmingly white.  Also, the frustration of advisor favoritism.

The writing style veered a little too close to purple prose for me at times.  However, given that Taylor wrote this in a matter of weeks (!!!), I think its solid foundation could have benefitted from just a bit more editing.

I liked all the hints that it was set at UW Madison without ever mentioning it by name, which felt like a fun little easter egg hunt for Midwesterners.  I feel like I have to be right because UW Madison is Taylor's alma mater and Real Life seems pretty heavily autobiographical.

All in all, I can see how this book would be divisive for people.  There's nothing uplifting about this, there's no healthy relationships, there's no real conclusion or lesson to take away from it.  It could be deeply triggering for some people, or verge on not being relatable enough to others.  Personally, I liked it a lot, but I can't say I'd recommend this across the board.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Grief

Imposter Syndrome and feeling incredibly lonely and hopeless in the world also prevalent themes