Reviews

The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man's World by Alan Downs

cesarcg's review against another edition

hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.5

rustylasagna's review against another edition

informative fast-paced

4.0

heidieli's review against another edition

informative

2.75

I was recommended this book by a friend who is part of the LGBTQ+ community and was interested as someone who is an ally. While definitely informative, I was struck by the author’s generalizations on gay men and culture and felt that the men he had worked with and quoted in the book only filled a small part of gay men (seemingly well-off, middle class men). It would have been interesting to see a wider range of experiences spoken about here.

aloelee's review

emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

frasergreen's review

dark emotional informative reflective

4.5

paintedtigers's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

hex_meghead's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia

Moderate: Terminal illness and Suicide

nikiolas's review

hopeful informative reflective tense fast-paced

4.0

johann_vu's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.75

bradyeberine's review

reflective slow-paced

1.0

I personally did not find that this LGBT+ book resonated with me much as a gay male. I think some of his testimonies are relatable; however, many testimonies are not relatable to the average gay male. He also has a very repetitive style.