Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

85 reviews

ncghammo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content

bashsbooks's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

4.5

I can see why this memoir is so popular and formative. Bechdel has a gift for weaving her father's queer story with her own, rife with literary references to connect them both. I would have probably given this 5 stars, but I am also reading The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For right now, and I think Bechdel is better at writing a fictional comic serial than a memoir. Totally different genres, though. Both worth reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Car accident, Grief, Suicide, Lesbophobia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol and Infidelity

suprconman99's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

A harrowing, at times devastating memoir that is deftly propelled by Bechdel’s literary wit. Her ability to find the universality in a story not everyone will immediately relate to is magic, and her willingness to excise EVERY shadowy corner of her childhood is both painful and courageous. A moving, compassionate reflection on Bechdel’s deeply flawed, haunted father, and on the relationships between parents and children more broadly — the sometimes unnerving, sometimes edifying ways in which we come to understand each other, not in terms of parent-child, but as people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse

sammyelliott_'s review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, Homophobia, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Cursing, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: War, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Drug use

There are multiple references to grooming of young boys by older men. There is one chapter which specifically discusses obsessive-compulsive behaviour with very detailed descriptions of the reasons and effects on her.

jrowe93's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Child abuse

satsumaorange's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.75

What a unique look into the mind of one of the most influential lesbian artists I know of! I found many of Bechdel's experiences profoundly relatable, and I actually teared up a few times. Essential reading for the sapphics with daddy issues out there (I see you <3)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Car accident, and Death

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, Grief, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Infidelity

Minor: Body shaming, Outing, Cursing, Drug use, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

This is the Lesbian Daddy Issues book, so if that kind of thing is triggery, this isn't the book for you. There are also illustrations of (sometimes naked) dead bodies, and (thankfully unrelated) illustrations of sex. This isn't a book to read in public, probably.

pokewhat's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

4.5

Bechdel's memoir is a gripping retelling of her early life and her relationship with her father as well as herself. The illustrations capture so many details of her past, while her prose captures you and carries you through the pages. 

The way she relates all the things that happened in her life then, with her sexuality, her father's sexuality, her tense home life, her father's death, and her coming to terms with it, all along with occurrences in literature that dominated her life during those times, as well as the greater world, it's honestly impressive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Car accident

Minor: Pedophilia and Suicide

barbarella85's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Death of parent, Grief, and Mental illness

kaetheluise_nckl's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Outing, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Car accident

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Grief

Minor: Blood, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Injury/Injury detail

OCD (mentioned briefly, undiagnosed)

lostinthelibrary's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

I don't read many memoirs and I've never before read a graphic novel so this was definitely out of my comfort zone!

I did take a bit of time to get used to the format. At first I felt like my eyes were darting all over the page and I was missing details, but once I got used to it I was able to really immerse myself in the story and reading became a lot more effortless.

This is a coming of age story focusing equally on personal identity and family relationships. It felt deeply personal and Alison did a great job at inhabiting her thoughts and feelings at various points in her childhood and young adulthood. Even though the timeline was non-linear, I never felt lost.

Of course, a lot of this was due to the illustrations. I was in awe of the perfectly struck balance between simplicity and detail and the way Alison subtly changed her characters to age them or represent a theme (e.g. her father as a greek god). It was all extremely clever and I'm sure if I thumbed through it again I would notice new details. 

I will say that some of the themes went a little over my head, Alison is clearly a voracious reader and makes frequent references to literature and I think if I had read more of the books she refers to I would have had a fuller experience of this novel. Interestingly two of the references were to books I have read this month (The Wind in The Willows and The Portrait of a Lady). There is also a lot left unsaid and that lack of closure may be frustrating to some. But hey, real life is rarely neat. 

Overall this was a very positive reading experience for me and I'm glad that I expanded my reading horizons. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide and Adult/minor relationship