Victim
A Novel
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4.1 • 11 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
FINALIST FOR THE GOTHAM BOOK PRIZE • AN NPR, BBC, AND DEBUTIFUL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • There’s a fine line between bending the truth and telling bold-faced lies, and Javier Perez is willing to cross it. Victim is a fearless satire about a hustler from the Bronx who sees through the veneer of diversity initiatives and decides to cash in on the odd currency of identity.
"A crowning achievement." —New York Times Book Review • "You will burn through Victim and find your hands scalded when you are done…Pitch perfect." —Xochitl Gonzalez, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming
Javier Perez is a hustler from a family of hustlers. He learns from an early age how to play the game to his own advantage, how his background—murdered drug dealer dad, single cash-strapped mom, best friend serving time for gang activity—can be a key to doors he didn’t even know existed. This kind of story, molded in the right way, is just what college admissions committees are looking for, and a full academic scholarship to a prestigious university brings Javi one step closer to his dream of becoming a famous writer.
As a college student, Javi embellishes his life story until there’s not even a kernel of truth left. The only real connection to his past is the occasional letter he trades with his childhood best friend, Gio, who doesn’t seem to care about Javi’s newfound awareness of white privilege or the school-to-prison pipeline. Soon after Javi graduates, a viral essay transforms him from a writer on the rise to a journalist at a legendary magazine where the editors applaud his “unique perspective.” But Gio more than anyone knows who Javi really is, and sees through his game. Once Gio’s released from prison and Javi offers to cut him in on the deal, will he play along with Javi’s charade, or will it all come crumbling down?
A satirical sendup of tear-jerking trauma plots with a tender portrait of friendship at its core, Victim asks what real diversity looks like and how far one man is willing to go to make his story hit the right notes.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Part blistering satire, part earnest bildungsroman, Boryga's canny debut follows an aspiring Puerto Rican writer from the Bronx. While Javi focuses on high school, his best friend Gio joins a gang and is sent to prison on a drug trafficking conviction. Javi's guidance counselor encourages him, with exploitative zeal, to "look for pity" from college admissions boards by writing an essay about his identity and his father's murder when he was young. After he's accepted by a prestigious university in Upstate New York, Javi learns he can leverage the roll of victim to stand out from his peers. Thinking of himself as a hustler like his drug dealer father, he writes essays for the school paper in which he capitalizes on outrage over social justice issues by embellishing his experiences (one such article presents a benign encounter with a campus police officer as an abusive instance of racial profiling). After graduation, Javi pursues a freelance writing career, and a similarly disingenuous piece ends up going viral. It's only when he reunites with a recently released Gio, who suggests his work doesn't ring true, that Javi begins to look in the mirror. Throughout, Boryga plays his dynamic central duo against each other to striking effect. This foray into the uses and misuses of victimhood bears fruit.
Customer Reviews
Review
Recently wrote my own college applications and found the story to be very damning and a light-hearted thrill to catharsis. I enjoyed Yellowface for the same reasons. How the relationships in the story end off is my style too.
One star off. Some thorns I experienced while reading this book was the sexual desire subplot + on winning his girlfriend over like a prize. Felt uncomfortable, not my taste. I subscribe to respecting and not sexualizing women’s bodies/perpetuating rape culture 😞
Also, I wish I could read the author’s own afterthoughts on the politics, community organizing, and media topics that are broached in the story. Another thing I wished to see was the story of Anais’ progressivism. What was in-between her cheerleading days and college that lead to her progressive ideals? Knowing this answer would help in making her character feel less 2D and the politics more nuanced. Sped through this book though, which I attribute to being a fun story 🤩