The Great Believers, book review

"If we could just be on earth at the same time as everyone we loved, if we could just be born together and die together, it would be so simple. But it's not."

★★★★★

At the end of July I bought 3 books, even though I am on a self imposed book buying ban at the moment, sometimes a girl just needs some new books to make her happy. This was the last one of them that I read, and well....

Yeah, this book really did break my heart. I am still struggling a little to get coherent words out that make at least a little bit of sense. But I have to start somewhere, so here goes nothing. I mean I DO love this book but a fair warning to all who picks it up (yes do that), it doesn't shy away from the horrors that were the AIDS pandemic and with each loss this book suffers it gets harder and harder to read. 

Yale Tishman, I just.... love him so so so so so so much. A good kind sweet man that really didn't deserve the things he went through. But honestly, as sad as it is, the book says it best. The disease doesn't care about who you are and what you have done. It just takes what it wants.

So yes this book then really is about senseless unfair loss and the efforts of those left behind to survive it. It's about the power of love but glaringly also about the limitations of it. I really felt for all the characters in this, even when they were complicated assholes at times, none deserved what was handed to them.

But as always this book isn't just sad and depressing. It's beautiful, happy and heartwarming too. That's definitely why I love it so. 

Now I might still be banned from buying books and I have made a promise that I will read the books that have been left neglected in my bookcase, but who knows, some brand new ones might still join in my ever growing collection.