Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez

7 reviews

arlaubscher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Classism, Colonisation, Homophobia, Racism, and Cursing

Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Misogyny

Minor: Miscarriage and Adult/minor relationship

rsolo's review against another edition

Gonna be honest, the author went on and on and on, I don’t doubht this is a good story and an important one given the subject matter but everything was described in such vivid detail, pages and pages on music and cups of tea that just seem to last forever

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

nourarifai's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No

4.0

Sad and emotional. I will say this book is quite slow and very explicit in quite a crude way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

maddb_96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, Drug use, Homophobia, Death of parent, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery

stormy_reading's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Rape

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

 Rainbow Milk is a semi-autobiographical novel exploring the intersection of race, sexuality, class, and religion. Jesse is a young Black gay man who was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness and grew up in an abusive home with a white step-father. The clash between the faith he was raised in and his sexuality results in Jesse being kicked out of both church and home and moving to London. His life there initially makes for very tough reading - lots of fairly graphic descriptions of sexual encounters that were unhealthy both physically and emotionally. An injury forces Jesse to rethink how he is living and art plus a chance encounter offer him another way forward.

Although most of the novel centres on Jesse it actually opens nearly 50 years earlier. Norman Alonso and his wife Claudette are part of the Windrush generation, trying their best to make a good life for their family despite the blatant racism they sometimes face. The eventual connection between the two storylines provides a satisfying conclusion to the book.

This book was unflinching and confronting in places which made for uncomfortable reading. Thankfully the ending had Jesse in a healthier and safer environment, seemingly more at peace with who he was. It was a rough journey but the destination made it worthwhile. That was true for me as a reader; my hope is that it is equally true for all the real life Jesses in the world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

milliebrierley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual content