Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

18 reviews

seventhswan's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

May's read for book group, 4.5 stars. I haven't read a graphic novel since I was about eleven and I'm not entirely sure the pictures added much to this for me, other than that I do love a map and the jokes were fun to spot. Regardless, I thought this book managed to be both entertaining and moving - I can't imagine it's easy to write something funny about

your father's suicide and sexual interest in teenage boys,

but I never felt Bechdel was being overly self-pitying or morose. The quality of the writing was also really excellent and I enjoyed the references to various books and plays. Some I'd read and some I hadn't but I didn't find that, for example, not having read Ulysses myself harmed my understanding of the book. I found it easy to connect with Bechdel, I think we'd get on, we seem to have a lot in common.

I thought it was a bit rogue that the narrative was almost entirely

"and my dad killed himself because he felt so much SHAME about being GAY" as if he was only struggling with attraction to other men and not, by the sounds of it, grooming teenagers.

I can understand not wanting to reckon with that too deeply, I just kept waiting for it to be addressed and it never really was. 

I was probably predisposed to like this, as I love a memoir in any form, but I still enjoyed it more than I expected. A creative and at-times relatable read that I'm excited to discuss with others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Death of parent, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia, Death, Sexual content, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Alcohol

jmarob's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexual content, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Grief

Minor: Mental illness, Suicide, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

blackberryjambaby's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Infidelity, Outing, Suicide, Car accident, Pedophilia, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Medical content, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Gore

becksusername's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Car accident, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Alcohol, Homophobia, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Suicide

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

i think some topics weren’t explored enough, but the story was important and the art style was really nice

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, Infidelity, Death, Outing, Suicide, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

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

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.

libscote's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

3.0

Felt a little pretentious to me, but I can see why it's important to so many people.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, and Alcohol

kaimetcalfe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Death, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Violence, Sexual content, Alcohol, Biphobia, Bullying, and Drug use

Minor: Pedophilia, Stalking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, and Alcoholism

thesuperkim's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Car accident, and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, and Infidelity

Minor: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Body horror