A review by katdid
Real Life by Brandon Taylor

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Pretty sad and depressing book tbh. I had a real sense of dread while reading it. The narrative takes place over three days and coupled with the descriptions of the stifling weather it reads as v claustrophobic. Some of the content/situations put me in mind of <u>A Little Life</u> --
just, Wallace seems to expect that he'll be treated with sexual violence and not believe he's worth any more than that. I found him a frustrating character because he was so passive. I kind of felt ambivalent about the book until the final chapter which is pitch-perfect and makes (imo) everything hang together (but also more upsetting/devastating). It's a great study of how you gather people around you based on circumstances (in this case, graduate school) but how maybe they aren't really your people.
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