Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

21 reviews

keppers_jax's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Sexual content

torikate7's review

funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Death, and Car accident

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Addiction

Minor: Infidelity, Medical content, and Sexual content

blueyogi's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Sexual content, Death, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Death of parent, Cursing, and Car accident

Minor: Addiction and Drug use

koplomps's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Car accident, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content, Confinement, and Drug use

orijuris's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual content

diana_raquel's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“Grief orbits the heart. Some days the circle is greater. Those are the good days. You have room to move and dance and breathe. Some days the circle is tighter. Those are the hard ones.”

The Guncle follows the story of Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick, when he has to take care of Maisie and Grant, his niece and nephew, after tragedy strikes. And despite having a set of “Guncle Rules”, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old.

I really loved this story! Its a story about grief and loss, but its also about hope and recovery. I loved every bit of it and couldn't put it down! Truly recommend it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Car accident, and Medical content

Moderate: Cancer, Addiction, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, and Sexual content

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Medical content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Cancer, Confinement, Drug abuse, Racism, Alcohol, Drug use, Terminal illness, Addiction, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Abandonment, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Outing, Bullying, Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry

atoft's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.5

The Guncle is not a bad book, but for me it rarely managed to produce any sort of spark and ended up just being fine.

Generally, the book takes a lighter tone which was a nice break from the heavier queer fiction I've read recently. Unfortunately, it feels like it's trying really hard to be funny, and only occasionally manages. The titular gay uncle, Patrick, is charged with looking after his young niece and nephew for the summer, with supposedly hilarious results. He spends most of the book talking to them in a way that no real person would talk to children, filled with quippy asides and obscure references. He's saying things not because they make any sense in context but because they are funny for the reader, or at least they're meant to be. That most of the cultural references are completely lost on me probably doesn't help.

The book does have some more dramatic and emotional threads to it, in the loss of the kids' mother and Patrick's friend, Sara, and in Patrick dealing with grief from the death of his boyfriend Joe four years earlier. The latter is the most effective, especially a scene in which

Patrick reads an old letter he wrote after Joe's death

. We see a more authentic version of Patrick and his grief is very real. That said, we don't get much of a sense of who Joe was as a person beyond his role as a prop for this story. Patrick's struggles with the loss of Joe tie into his attempts to help the kids process their own grief. Since we see the kids entirely from the outside, rather than understanding what they're feeling, these scenes end up being more about Patrick's awkwardness than anything deeper. At the same time, their father's struggle with addiction in the wake of his wife's illness seems to be mainly a contrivance to get the children to stay with their uncle, rather than an issue the book actually has interest in exploring.

The majority of the book has us tagging along with the trio throughout their summer, exploring Patrick's extravagant home (the reward for a successful TV career from which he's now hiding) and trying out various fun activities in the pretty but constraining setting of Palm Springs. Along the way he invents ridiculous "Guncle Rules" in an attempt to teach the kids important lessons, such as the value of brunch. There are a couple of other subplots, mainly around Patrick regaining the confidence to continue his acting career, and his growing flirtation with an up-and-coming young TV star. A brief moment of tension is brought about when

an earthquake strikes Palm Springs

, but as with most of the other story threads the book doesn't seem to have much interesting to do with it. A clash with Patrick's sister Clara (not to be confused with Sara) over whether or not he's an appropriate carer for the children is another example of a story beat that the author seemingly doesn't know what to do with. She threatens to take him to court, but he easily talks her down and she seems to essentially give up. Patrick seems to chalk this up to her discovering her husband has been cheating on her, and this along with her comically exaggerated hatred of the patriarchy makes the character feel like a bit of an unfortunate caricature.

Reading The Guncle is not an unpleasant experience; it means spending some time in a sunny and relaxing place where nothing of much importance happens. But it's a story that too often favours fun over sincerity, and whose characters often feel as hollow as one of Patrick's colourful pool floats.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Well, it took me about 5 years to finish this novel due to a very annoying reading slump, but after finally hitting the story’s stride with the second half, I’m happy to report I did enjoy it. It felt like the very depth of a proper embrace—comforting but yet all consuming. It was not necessarily a funny book like I expected, but more of an introspective look at grief and the different ways we cope with it. In Guncle Patrick’s case that often did include comedy, but also fury and sadness and absurdity and care. Patrick’s relationship with his niece and nephew is the star of the story, but his relationship with everyone in his life, past and present, is unveiled through his love of and life with the children. 

This a book about family and dreams, and how you should never give up on either of them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death, Alcohol, Death of parent, Car accident, Drug use, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Blood, and Abandonment

spark_879's review

emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

this book had me laughing in some places and crying in others. i would recommend.
grant is absolutely adorable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Fatphobia and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual harassment and Vomit