Scan barcode
alexreadsboooks's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Infidelity
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent
aardwyrm's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Suicide
rsmry's review against another edition
5.0
One criticism I have is that she never explicitly called her father a pedophile. I know a lot of things, like his abuse of his family members, is explicit in the drawings but less severe sounding in the text, and it's a great writing tool to show the audience the reality of her childhood while talking around the issue in text, emphasizing her inherited struggle in talking to/about her family. But in the context of a society that ignores/dismisses pedophilia a little too often, I think being explicit about using a word we find so repulsive and connecting it to his actions is important.
And one specific note: on page 108 she kind of sets up two options for herself had she been part of her father's generation -- "Would I have had the guts to be one of those Eisenhower-era butches? Or would I have married and sought succor from my high school students?"
Though phrasing it like these were her two options makes sense given that the novel is reflecting on and drawing comparisons between her and her father's lives, this felt jarring when I read it because it considers pedophilia so casually, and the either/or phrasing of those two panels poses these hypotheticals as the only two options. I'm uncomfortable with how this associates closeted homosexuality with pedophilia given the history of homophobes painting queer people as sexually perverse people who prey on children.
Although pedophilia is a weighty topic, I think these are relatively small criticisms -- like, she definitely doesn't paint her father's actions in a good light. Overall she covered complicated topics and complicated relationships really well.
Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
marthadude's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Death, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Outing, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Child abuse
Minor: Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
annablume's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
mehon123's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Pedophilia
demo's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Suicide, Death, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Grief, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Child abuse
mollyrobinson's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Grief
lanorton's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, and Domestic abuse
megg's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Medical content, Infidelity, Homophobia, Grief, Gore, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Police brutality, and Pregnancy