Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Les Optimistes by Rebecca Makkai

38 reviews

dearbhlanoonan's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical content, Death, Police brutality, Grief, Sexual content, and Homophobia

ariana3's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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

This took me longer to read than I wanted it to, it was longer than I think it should have been. It basically describes the AIDS epidemic in Chicago in the early 80s from the general viewpoint of 1 main character

(who eventually gets it from a casual fling- after being so careful with his then-longtime bf who cheated, got it, and thought he got it from him but didn't-and ultimately dies).

It alternates chapter-by-chapter with that and one of their female friends in the future in 2015.

Her brother was one of the first in this friend group to die, so she was always around these men. In the future, she's trying to find her estranged daughter and make amends. It ends a little bittersweet, as Yale (the main character) does indeed die and it describes his slow-ish decline. But Fiona (the girl) finds her daughter and they seem to slowly be repairing/building back their relationship

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Infidelity, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Hate crime, and Homophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Excrement, Abandonment, and Mental illness

sstarliper's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Medical content, Police brutality, and Sexual content

sestout's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Grief, Death, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Infidelity, Abandonment, Sexual content, Homophobia, Alcohol, and Mental illness

Minor: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcoholism, Bullying, War, and Police brutality

waybeyondblue's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, Chronic illness, and Homophobia

Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Vomit

froggydanny's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Homophobia

Moderate: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, and Infidelity

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Alcohol

kaela_arcuri's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Addiction, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Abandonment, and Medical content

victoriarose12's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Terminal illness, Sexual content, and Bullying

kimveach's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I wanted to like this book more than I did.  The dual timelines broke up the story too much for me.  I preferred the story set in 1980s Chicago to the one in the present day.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cancer, Classism, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Ableism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Grief, Outing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Blood, Body shaming, Dementia, Drug use, Excrement, Medical content, and Abandonment

mmaack24's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

i think this may be the most beautiful and compelling work i have ever read. i admit that i was a bit skeptical at first, as it is written by a straight cis woman and about queer struggle, and also because it seemed to be so solely about queer struggle. i worried that it would be 400 pages of just trauma and sadness, but the emotions are so complex and the characters are some of my favorite depictions of queer men and complicated relationships i have ever experienced. i am so incredibly in awe, and i have a feeling this will put me in a reading slump because at the moment i can’t picture anything else being good or even worth reading because of how gorgeous this book was.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Suicide, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Racism