This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
Sex, Death & Diane by Dante revolves around the life of a girl named Sara, and her tumultuous coming of age through illness, loss, and the social construct of America in the 1980s. Sara's childhood was marked by her friendship with the rebellious Diane, who contrasted with Sara's cautious nature. Sara's leukemia diagnosis was badly managed by her parents but she found comfort with Diane at her home. After graduating from high school, Sara returns home from college on a break to heartbreaking news. Back in college, she is isolated as she manages a second tragedy, a problematic class assignment, accelerating technology, and the dizzying speed of rising figures like the polarizing Alan Sterling. Sara’s journey is embodied by her attempts to reconcile her personal trauma with her broader concerns about AIDS, media manipulation, and societal division, forcing deeper reflection on her own role and the implications of activism and critical thinking.
Dante’s Sex, Death & Diane is an interesting look at a unique period in history, homing in on one girl in an attempt to cover the trials of a diverse generation. My wife grew up in San Francisco at the dawn of the AIDS epidemic, which is what drew me to the book. What's interesting and unexpected is that Dante draws an almost eerily relatable line that has some irony: for all of the technological advances, socially, we haven't kept up with that speed. In some ways, we are stuck in the same spot we were 40 years ago. Dante's style of writing is direct and simple, working more on telling us what is happening over the characters doing that, but they still do well at capturing the turmoil of Sara's life experiences. The book's strength really does lie in its raw, unflinching portrayal of the vast divide in ideologies and an unapologetically sharp social critique. Overall, this is a thoughtful body of work that is bluntly incisive and timely, and I think readers who enjoy socially driven literary fiction will find that here.
