Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

6 reviews

megelizabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

This was a book that really crept up on me. It's dense, heavy, slow, and incredibly brutal, and it was only towards the end that I properly started to realise just how brilliant it is. It's overwhelmingly about loneliness, and explores that - as well as other themes - so, so well. The characters are incredibly well-developed for a story set mostly over one weekend, and by the end my heart was just completely aching. I just know that this is a book I will not forget. I do wish that there had been some nuance to the way that animal exploitation is portrayed, but otherwise I loved this so much that I don't feel I can give it less than the full five stars.

I always encourage checking trigger warnings, but with this one I would do so even more heavily than usual - there is a LOT of really heavy content in this one and it's definitely one to only go into if you really feel you're in a good place to handle it. If you do feel able to cope, though, I truly cannot recommend this enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Vomit and Death of parent

Minor: Ableism and Cancer

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

marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

Absolute new fave. I'm here for societal critque and especially if it includes acedemia. And what a painful but beautiful book this was. Filled with rage, hurt, fear and indecision, it's nuanced and unapologetic and real. Immediately adding Taylor's other work to my tbr.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Blood, and Dysphoria

isobel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and Classism

Minor: Animal death and Vomit

oliverlang's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm not sure what I expected from this book to begin with but as it went on I found myself compelled to read more in the hopes that the resolutions I wanted from it would come to fruition.

There's a lot of friend group drama going on throughout this book with a lot of dark/serious themes. 

I feel like I wanted this book to be more than it was. It had the opportunity to provide strong character development and show a bisexual identity and it just didn't give me that. 

Although the book only documents the events over one weekend, the ending felt unfinished and the final chapter came out of the blue with a flash back to the friends meeting for the first time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

frutista_freeze's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

Minor: Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

This book just wasn't for me. It was slow which is fine, but I also had a hard time personally connecting to certain aspects of Wallace's life even though I shouldn't have. That being said, the book wasn't Bad