Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Blackouts by Justin Torres

8 reviews

ka_cam's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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

A meditative, reflective, moody and sometimes playful genre-blending history/memoir/hagiography/scrapbook/and more following a young gay man as he accompanies an elder gay man is dying. From different generations both share Puerto Rican heritage and a brief overlapping stay at a psych facility. Weaves oral, written, visual archives with an interpersonal relationship and personal reflections in a way I found compelling and thought provoking, also learned some queer history. Loved the ruminations on the very porous boundaries between ‘reality’ and memory, archives, history, psychology, and storytelling. The power of being recorded and excercising power over what is recorded and what is erased- challenging binaries of known/unknown and truth/fiction. Encourages the reader to recognize and appreciate the past, the ways it is present, our received and constructed narratives or lenses, and the ways we can leave space for what we we never truly know about the past and those who live/d in it. Some of the thoughts can come off a bit trite, and I can see how it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

waytoomanybooks's review

challenging emotional informative mysterious 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

4.0

This is a beautifully written and sensitively told story about grief, loss, and love in the respective queer communities of the two main characters (approximately from the 1930s to the 1990s). The novel is an interesting blend of fact and fiction, and is told through blackout/erasure poetry, as well as narratives from the two leads. I found the erasure poetry and the inserted images to add positively to my reading experience.

The main characters also experience literal memory blackouts that influence the narrative, which makes it a bit tricky to follow at some points, but if you take the time to math it out, you can make a decent timeline of important dates and the characters’ ages. Sometimes it is tricky to tell what is a memory and what is a dream/hope/wish/fear/desire, which is an intentional stylistic choice, but one that I don’t personally like.

One aspect I don’t like about any book—not just this one—is when a book just ends without closure or a hint at closure. I can’t stand it when the narrative does a hard cut into acknowledgments.

Though just because this book isn’t stylistically my jam, I would still recommend reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Child abuse, Outing, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Transphobia, Ableism, Chronic illness, Dementia, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Self harm, and Homophobia

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a really interesting book, a sort of auto-fiction/historical fiction combination about telling stories and being interpreted and pathologized. I liked it a lot.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Death, Homophobia, Medical content, and Racism

Minor: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

bella_ruth's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Homophobia, Death, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

mirandyli's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

A beautifully written, heart wrenching story about intergenerational queer friendship. Will make you want to hug and kiss the queer elders in your life. This book won a bunch of awards and deserved all of them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Dementia, Drug use, Infidelity, Biphobia, Child abuse, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Racism, Addiction, Homophobia, Medical content, Death of parent, Grief, and Adult/minor relationship

jessthanthree's review

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Terminal illness, Dementia, Homophobia, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Racism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Violence, Abandonment, Transphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, War, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

readerette's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

It might be better read as a physical copy rather than digital, and certainly not as an audiobook if one is available--there are too many images that go with the text. 

I found the literary structures overwrought and distracting. I appreciated the facts about the life experiences of the main characters as gay men in a time when homosexuality was still taboo, but watching everything through a scattered fever dream was not compelling to me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Sexual violence

mmccombs's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

4.0

This was like reading a dream, experimental and surreal and blurry. I leave this feeling like I didn’t quite get it but I do appreciate what it was doing. Blending different types of art and fiction/nonfiction, it’s a book that explores gaps in memory and in history. I’m glad I read this but also know it might take a while to really wrap my mind around it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Death, Racism, and Mental illness