Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

My Policeman by Bethan Roberts

20 reviews

islamaunder21's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexism, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

queerloras's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Outing, Blood, and Hate crime

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Classism, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-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

4.0

I read this as part of my 12 books recommended by 12 friends challenge! 

Started off slow and a bit overly descriptive for my taste but it picked up around page 60

I preferred Patrick’s POV chapters more because of the writing style! Marion’s chapters, especially in the beginning, were a bit overly descriptive. It slowed down the pacing making it harder for me to want to read the book.

We get chapters in both Marion’s POV and Patrick’s but we never hear from Tom. I thought this was an interesting way to tell the story but I kind of would have liked to hear how Tom felt and thought through all of this.

Overall a fantastically tragic story with complex characters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Violence, and Outing

Moderate: Suicide, Gaslighting, Confinement, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Sexual content

Minor: Lesbophobia and Infertility

higherwvrlvck's review against another edition

reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

To sum up this book in one word: devastating. The cover and synopsis could tell you that much, but reading it, you feel it in many different ways you may not expect. Besides her beautiful prose, Bethan Roberts narrative structure was really clever and interesting. Most of the novel is told retrospectively from Marion's point of view. Two of the five parts are written/narrated by Patrick. While all three characters-Patrick, Tom, and Marion-are apart of the story, it really feels like Marion has the main voice. Thus, she seems to be the protagonist of this novel. But having Patrick as also another voice highlights their common subject, Tom or My Policeman. In the acknowledgements, Roberts mentions the main sources she used to write the novel, but the novel has also been advertised as "Inspired by the life of E.M. Forster and his relationship with his long-time companion Bob Buckingham and his wife." Reading this in the synopsis is what really convinced me to read My Policeman, having watched Maurice (1987) and knowing a bit about Forster's life. It definitely lived up to that selling point, but I wonder where the line is drawn between fact and fiction. Overall, really loved this book, but I found it a bit slow at times, Marion was a bit of an annoying narrator/character, and while the ending absolutely broke my heart, the story still felt incomplete with some practical gaps in the plot line.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime and Homophobia

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexual content

Minor: Lesbophobia and Abortion

Besides one scene towards the end of the novel in Part IV, I don't think there's anything violently graphic, but there are plenty of sex scenes that go into moderate detail. This is the only scene that might be severely triggering for contemporary readers. The attitudes and cultural values of late 1950s Britain are present, so that includes misogyny which I think Bethan Roberts begins discussions about the possible tensions between Patrick and Tom's misogyny (and from characters like Sylvie's husband) and Marion's homophobia several times that are very interesting.

memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cursing and Lesbophobia

steffan_tastic's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Outing, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Vomit and Police brutality

Minor: Misogyny and Lesbophobia

ts_anne13's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Hate crime, and Homophobia

apiora215's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Sexual content

hannahbailey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

TW: homophobia, outing, toxic relationship, suicide, imprisonment 

A well written book -- the setting was particularly well crafted. I could really sense the tense and unforgiving atmosphere both of the time and in between the characters. I hope that the author made these characters deliberately unlikeable, if so, then its excellent storytelling. I'm still unsure whether this novel is a product of its time (2012 :/) or a novel ahead of its time in that it leaves you feeling conflicted. That probably doesn't make sense unless you've read the book, but Marion's actions were unexpected and pretty shocking. I didn't really sympathise her, although I felt like the narrative was perhaps asking readers to, which is why I'm unsure of the author's intent here!

This is a very sad and depressing book, do not pick this up if you're looking to read about queer joy -- you won't find it here! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide, Police brutality, Terminal illness, and Confinement

booksbutmakeitgay's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

As a queer person, this story makes me incredibly sad..

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexism, Outing, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Grief, and Forced institutionalization