Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

Skim by Mariko Tamaki

8 reviews

pabi's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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? No

4.0

perfectly captures how pretentious, insufferable and weird I felt in high school (probably on most days I was). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Bullying, and Fatphobia

witchofthemountains's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Homophobia, Death, Cursing, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Ableism, Toxic friendship, Racism, Lesbophobia, Grief, and Bullying

itsjadenbaby's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

2.5

This was a very quick read. Lots of triggers but an honest portrayal of how it may feel to be young and not know what’s going on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Suicide, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, and Racism

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Alcoholism

moonchildjuli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Suicide, Mental illness, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

kathleencoughlin's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-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? Yes

3.5

I liked this book well enough but I think it would have resonated with me more 8-10 years ago when I was myself a student at a catholic girls' school grappling with some of the same questions. 

Now as a teacher myself, the whole this with Ms. Archer especially not what I wanted to read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Bullying

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

mothie_girlie's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Lesbophobia, and Suicide

Moderate: Toxic friendship

Minor: Self harm

nicolinebl's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

Beautiful art. Besides that I wasn't really blown away but I did enjoy reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Death, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

jmcordero's review against another edition

reflective relaxing slow-paced

4.0

I don't know that I have much to add beyond what other reviewers have said, but this book was a very refreshing read. The art has a beautiful sketchy quality that I adore, and I think this story was told in the perfect medium -- as another reviewer pointed out, much of the story is told through subtext. Some of the chapters end with grand illustrations that hint at a scene that goes unsaid. I think this show-not-tell aspect is visual storytelling at its best, and I love to see graphic novels pull it off. I'd compare the storytelling to the film 'Moonlight' by Barry Jenkins: told in beautiful vignettes, respecting the viewer/reader's intelligence enough to allow them to put the pieces together. These stories really resonate with me and make me feel like a somewhat active participant in the story. It makes you think of them beyond the words and images on the page.

There are a few warnings I would put in for teenage suicide and an inappropriate student-teacher relationship; however, contrary to what some reviewers suggest, neither of these are romanticized one bit. This book is told from the first-person viewpoint of a teenager, so I didn't expect it to come out with a flashing message of 'THIS IS WRONG', nor should anyone else. Teenagers view themselves as older and often don't understand when they are being taken advantage of by adults. The book still made it clear that the relationship was wrong without having to explicitly state it by simply showing us how miserable it made the main character -- and how lonely she felt having to hide it. For anyone who thinks the book didn't do an adequate job of pearl-clutching over this relationship, I'd recommend reading the memoir 'Being Lolita' by Alisson Wood, being the firsthand account of a woman who, as a teenager, was groomed by a teacher. By comparing the two, I think this book does an excellent job of showing the perspective of a teen in this situation.

Ultimately, I think that this relationship made the ending all the more powerful. The last page is perfectly poetic. The parallels are spot-on.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Dysphoria, Grief, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Toxic friendship