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I have Torres‘ Blackouts on my TBR shelf, but first I wanted to start with one of his earlier novels. Three brothers are raised in near poverty by the parents and have a close, but brutal relationship to each other borne out of love and violence. The chapters are short set pieces and some work better than others, but the book races to a climax that in some ways felt forced and unnecessary. Torres lacked finesse and subtlety in this volume.

An interesting look at childhoods packed with trauma. Not a particularly uplifting read, but interesting (I think this is a novel in verse, but am not sure since I listened to the audio). Content warnings for domestic abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, sexual acts performed in front of children, homophobia, and forced institutionalization. #LGBTQ #Trauma

…telling me how he dreamt of kites — a whole sky full of kites, and he was holding all the strings. He told me how the good kites and wicked kites got all mixed up, how he tried to hold on to the good and let the rest float away, but after a while he couldn‘t tell them apart 🪁

The unnamed narrator recounts his life growing up in upstate New York with his older brothers, his Puerto Rican father and white mother, in what is more a series of vignettes than a novel proper. The writing is vivid and conveys brilliantly the feeling of being seven years old, dirt-poor, scrambling around for food and emotional sustenance in a family where the father's moods always bear watching and periodically explode into brutal violence.

I'm so torn. There is some truly beautiful writing in this novel, some moments that will stay with me for a long time. Through short chapters, Torres introduces us to 3 brothers and their lives with their Puerto Rican father and white mother. There is no plot to speak of, just connected vignettes, snapshots of a family. The first two-thirds of the novel are something special, but... 👇🏼

Kindle deal 🥳

May #bookspin ready to go. Will i get to all of them? Ehhhhh...i expect I'll have at least some issue with access, but i have half of them checked out already. If i can get the others as ebooks, I'll have a good chance!

@TheAromaofBooks

Three boys with wild rambunctious energy employing all survivalist skills to outlast their childhood in a home where the parents are consumed by that crazy dangerous messed-up kind of love that makes childhood feel like something to hurry up and get over with, but in this home, family unity and the strength of brotherhood has a precedence and is expected to outweigh or hoped that it can outweigh all of the chaos contained in this family.👇🏽

This little book is full of stories of a family of three brothers. A lot of it is told from the “we” point of view, which I am never really comfortable with. That‘s the main reason I‘d call it a so-so for me.

There is a main character, the youngest of the brothers, and I preferred the parts that were from his specific point of view.

Torres describes the tribe mentality of the little boys well. Also, poverty and neglectful parents.

I was all over the place this week! #bookreport
I finished Henry Sugar and Inexplicable Logic on audio, and I read We, the Animals.
Other than that, I bounced between All You Can Ever Know, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Thunderhead. I‘m liking Thunderhead the best. 🙂

Stunning. Wondering what took me so long to get to this.

Snippets from a young boy's life as he grows up with his two older brothers and parents. Not exactly linear, but definitely all meaningful chapters show an intense, passionate, and stormy relationship between the boys' parents: a Puerto Rican father and white mother. They are poor, as only the mother works. The boys care for themselves and form a close bond. They are a ruffian Lost Boys type group. I listened to the #audiobook on #hoopla 🔊

After a long afternoon of Christmas shopping (blech 😑), I deserved a stop at the bookstore.

Loved this. What a whirlwind read! Every chapter is such a strong scene.

This slim debut novel about three young brothers received massive critical acclaim in 2011-12. It seems to have cooled down a little on Goodreads, but I think it‘s thoughtful and well crafted — a great read and good example for aspiring writers. #novella #literaryfiction #culturalheritage

I had to reread this book after watching the movie. It‘s just so good. There‘s so much packed into a slim book about three brothers growing up poor, wild and unhinged. There‘s so much about what it means to be Puerto Rican in a rural area in the US. What it means to be different from your sibling. Mostly, it‘s about love and how sometimes it‘s not enough to love your family. Sometimes it‘s that love that makes you incapable to do right.

Just saw the movie based on this book. I‘m speechless. I met Torres years ago at a reading and immediately read his book. I‘m Puerto Rican and so much of what that means in America is presented in the book. I‘m so happy that they kept it in the film. I urge everyone to pick up the book or see the movie. This movie examines boyhood, family toxicity, abuse, ethnicity and sexual awakening. @BooksForEmpathy @mauveandrosysky is this playing by y‘all?

Left me speechless.

Novella told in anecdotes, about the youngest of three wild brothers realizing he is different from the rest of his family. Short but intense, and lovely writing.

Heart-wrenching read; required a stiff drink. A sometimes violent, sometimes beautiful coming of age story about the youngest of three sons born to a white mother and Puerto Rican father, living in poverty in upstate New York.

#dogsorcats #readingresolutions #litsyhumor 🐱 🐶 😂

#spinepoetry #riotgrams
We the animals,
the plague of doves on the fence,
feed in the skin of a lion
eating animals, delicate edible birds.

When women were birds
the vegetarian lit
the innocent, tiny beautiful things,
into the water.

Beautiful, wrenching, and well worth your time.

A fantastically written book, but it's the darkness and uncomfortable reading experience which has meant I've given this a "so-so" rating. Making it difficult to recommend as it was hard to read all 128 pages, but that in itself says a lot about the writer.

So I'm not going off of a book for this one. I just think it's a matter of time before cats and bunnies #RuleTheWorld. They've already taken places over in Japan. They're just biding their time... #JuneTunz

Dark, heartbreaking, disturbing, but beautifully written. I work with kids five days a week who come from mean homes with mean parents, so this book wasn't for me; I need to repair once I'm home not read more about it. But others may appreciate the brutal honesty and lyrical, raw writing.

#read

Finished this book yesterday. It was so much more heartbreaking than I thought it would be. Definitely enjoyed it.

A tiny bit of reading while waiting for the bus

Today's reading for my novel writing class

4 out of 5 stars. Lyrical, touching, and dark. My second book finished for the #24in48 #readathon.

👍🏻

"God's scattered all the clean among the dirty. You and me Joel, we're nothing more than a fistful of seed that God tossed into the mud and horseshit. We're on our own."

I realize I am so late to the game reading it, but better late than never. So much power in these words. I love the narrative and abstract nature of this novel! Need more from Justin Torres!!

This is a fantastic, well-written, heartbreaking book. A great read about finding yourself in a world where who you are is either shunned, misunderstood, or a combination of the two. It is dripping with what it means to be unconditionally loved. Definitely recommend.

My daughter was given this book to read in class. She is a sophomore in high school. She asked me to read it because it is "bizarre and inappropriate". I read it in one evening. I thought the book was fantastic, but not for a 16 year old. Anyone read this? Thoughts? #24in48. #readathon. @Litsy