Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

51 reviews

abidoodle's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I really struggled with figuring out how to rate this book. It was very complex. I didn’t always enjoy it, but it did get me thinking, and the ending really tied everything together for me. I enjoyed the writing style, but sometimes found the story strange and difficult, but I think it’s meant to be. I appreciated the difference of each character, the representation of different ethnicities, sexualities, religious beliefs, superstitions, political opinions, mental illnesses, family situations, etc. The characters felt really well designed to be like real people, with beauty and flaws and complexity and the relationships were well written in that regard as well. Overall a great book, definitely not a light read, but worth reading and considering some of the themes throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Suicide

Moderate: Alcoholism and Homophobia

Minor: Abortion and Violence

popsicleplease's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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: Homophobia, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Suicide

Moderate: Gun violence

ordinarypickle's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Homophobia

angelsinbroadway's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Antisemitism, Abortion, Homophobia, Grief, Eating disorder, Death, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Murder, and Gun violence

dori8reads's review

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence

Covers AIDS epidemic early in the book

cadeyladey's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Eating disorder, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Suicide

rachelh913's review

5.0

This book wrecked me. I devoured it in two sittings and sobbed through the last fifty pages or so, but loved every moment. It’s gritty and dark and makes me want to write a book report on the interplay between death, life, family, and the choices we make. Incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Eating disorder, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: War and Homophobia

amiahhh's review

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia

seamoonstone's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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: Suicide and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Gun violence, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Abortion

belleanndthebook's review

dark reflective sad

3.0

After a few months worth of distance from this book. I can finally elaborate on my feelings towards it: This book creates a scenario with one set of expectations and then pivots and explores other themes almost entirely. 

 

This book sells itself, both in the synopsis and the prologue, as a book that explores how knowing the date of one’s death shapes one’s life, a book thematically about—what I will attempt to summarize in one word as—mortality. However, immediately when we jump forward to the first sibling's perspective, the book begins to centrally explore another theme: grief. The siblings’ father dies, triggering the characters to begin thinking about death and thus begins the events of the story. Initially, the addition of this theme makes sense due to the proximity of mortality and death (and thus grief). However, the rest of the book very quickly becomes very repetitive. 

 

The lives of the siblings become increasingly shaped mainly by grief as opposed to exploring how they grapple with their mortality. All of the siblings essentially struggle against their mortality and die in the exact same way

(self-sabotage and recklessness)

, and, until the literal climactic conclusion of the book, no other possibility of dealing with mortality is portrayed. 

 

Thus, a book that I picked up expecting it to explore how people live their lives in the face and in spite of their inevitable mortality, actually turned out to be a book exploring grief, death, and dying over and over again without much meaningful variety. Don’t get me wrong, there was some  merit in the siblings' stories individually and in the other themes explored; however, I think that many are going to find this book disappointing because the set-up in no way matched the pay-off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Hate crime, and Addiction

Minor: Homophobia