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dimcmill's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Torture, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Rape, and Fatphobia
chemicallykat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I'm conflicted about how to rate this... so I'm going with a 3. This isn't bad - it just didn't work for me, and the MULTIPLE graphic sexual assault scenes were difficult to handle. I found them to be incredibly jarring. I really think this book could have used a content warning because I was wildly unprepared. I almost dnf'd for this reason. If I had known going in this wouldn't have been as much of an issue because I could have prepared myself properly. This probably would have been a 4 star for me without the repetitive graphic SA scenes.
The narrator had a good tone and pace and I felt his voice really fit the story. I enjoyed the cultural aspects of this book. I did genuinely feel for Shagun at multiple points, so I was somewhat invested.
This is a coming-of-age story set in the past centered around a queer man who is struggling to find his place in the world. There is a lot of sexual assault and trauma here... which may be realistic (I wouldn't know), but I was really thrown every time it happened.
This is a valuable story, but it won't be for everyone. This book covers a lot of nuanced topics such as finding your identity, feeling like an outcast amongst your peers, and dealing with abuse and homophobia. There are very complicated relationships in this novel - in particular, the relationship between Shagun and his parents is very complex and interesting.
I don't love how everything was handled, but I do think it was somewhat realistic. The conflicting emotions were done well. I just personally don't like this idea that people who harm you should be forgiven, even at great personal cost. I would literally never forgive someone for SA'ing me. I would never think of them fondly again.
The end of this novel was somewhat satisfying, at least compared to the rest of the book. It wasn't as depressing as the rest.
There are people that will enjoy and find value in this book, but I wouldn't recommend this to everyone. I haven't read "A Little Life" but based on what I know about it, it's somewhat similar to this book. This is not a happy, lighthearted novel. This is about trauma and making a place in the world.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Outing, and Sexual harassment
amobrien's review against another edition
- 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
Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.
Graphic: Homophobia, Confinement, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Body shaming, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Pedophilia, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Child death, and Bullying
Minor: Police brutality, Hate crime, and Incest
aperl1's review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence
silence's review
3.0
Graphic: Sexual violence and Homophobia
pastelmeganes's review
- 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? No
3.75
So i enjoyed the concept of the story but some aspects of execution I felt were a miss. I enjoyed the concept of what the author was going for with the mix of religion as well as the identity of his sexuality playing a part in his craft with acting but I felt the main character wasn’t very likable. Perhaps that was intentional but I felt it hard to enjoy his journey at times.
I was enthralled and captivated immensely more in the beginning up until he left school. I felt saddened for him while at the boarding school that his body imagery was constantly a point of ridicule but I felt it was realistic sadly of boy behavior.
The main character battled a lot with grief; specifically with the lost of his sisters. In a way, he lost everyone in his family but at the cost of him accepting himself which is a sad reality of many LGBT+ individuals specially in countries with strict laws against LGBT folks.
The whole conversion therapy camp situation was incredibly disheartening and very graphic. Im glad his cauldron friend was able to find a median with his identity and family and meet the main character again.
I would give this originally a 4/5 however the middle of the book started to get long winded and i HATE story arcs with misunderstandings personally so I had to knock it down a bit for that.
Graphic: Body shaming, Violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Grief, Sexual assault, and Torture
Moderate: Outing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Death