Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

61 reviews

nkmustdie's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death, Cultural appropriation, Transphobia, Vomit, Grief, Child abuse, Body shaming, Blood, Animal death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Violence, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Dysphoria, Cursing, Classism, Racism, Bullying, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Colonisation, and Chronic illness

peachani's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism and Sexual content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, and Pedophilia

jennazim's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Bullying, and Alcoholism

criticalgayze's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny fast-paced

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

5.0

At the risk of being explicit, Queer millennial writers are the shit. (Side Note: If that little bit of cursing was too much for you, do not pick up this book - see my trigger warnings.) While I am late to the Whitehead party, he has joined the ranks of Emezi, Taylor, and Purnell in writers who are revolutionizing form, storytelling, and identity in a way that is going to have a major impact on literature from here on, and it is no wonder when reading works like this that power structures are so terrified of Queers.

From the opening scene-setting of sneaking Queer as Folk in the bedroom as a child, Whitehead creates a sense of the Queer kid who is exposed early to what it means to understand yourself as a sexual being. In that way, I felt myself immediately seen on the pages. While being a mere (but learning) spectator in his specific experience as a Queer person of Indigenous heritage, I also felt incredibly in tune with his experience of impoverished matriarchal and tight-knit extended family dynamics.

Having read Dear Senthuran and Jonny Appleseed, two Queer books steeped in culturally specific spirituality, Baldwin's refrain strikes me all the more that we white people have truly done terrible harm, not just to the marginalized peoples that were subjugated and expelled and murdered, but to ourselves through colonialism. This lack of access to a deeper spiritual identity that we white people suffer from leads us to a toxic sense of personal restlessness that makes us a danger to ourselves.

This was just such an extremely powerful book that I am thankful the Canadian book gatekeepers had the good sense to prioritize.

Quotes:
And I always got a tickle out of how you could anthropomorphize yourself within the gay animal kingdom: "bear," otter," "wolf," "fox," "cubs." If only these gays knew how powerful Mistahimaskwa could really be. (18)
I thought for a second, then accepted it: I added "canine" to the list of entities I could morph into and started charging an extra few bucks per session. (25)
Like the leech, I too felt like a hermaphrodite: part boy, part girl, and always needed by hunters and fishermen. And I always left a red mark on their bodies somewhere, as if to say: I was here./
Plus, leeches are medicine, didn't you know? (81)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Grief, Racism, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: Pregnancy

evafantasy's review against another edition

challenging 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

⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was such a raw and touching story. The writing is snarky, full of sarcasm and a bare honesty. The story trickles from recollections to memories to the present to the past in a vivid and heart wrenching tale. I laughed, cried and was surprised along the writing that is honestly unpredictable. I've made a few faces at the mentions of bodily fluids and other body odours that arrived unexpectedly in the text to then wince at the depiction of childhood abuse, and then laugh at the absurdity of some situations. Sex, sexuality, desire and identity are a central part of the story. The whole thing is told in the same tone , laugh and sadness, sex and affection on the same level. It was very interesting, very different from what I usually read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless !

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Child abuse, Racism, and Alcoholism

ofbooksandechos's review

challenging 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Child abuse

Cw: anti indigenous racism, mentions of boarding schools

ce_read's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief, Racism, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Death, Bullying, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, and Pregnancy

There's a scene involving a belly button that I can think would really wig some people out

maekay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

5.0

Intense and nihilistic story about realities of modern Indigenous and Two Spirited life. The writing is amazing, the author balances dichotomies perfectly: it's disgustingly beautiful, violently touching, and ambiguously insightful. Not for the faint of heart, there is a lot of pain in this novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Addiction, Bullying, Drug use, Child abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Sexual assault, and Animal cruelty

hyliansee's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, and Child abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Fatphobia, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Rape, Racism, Colonisation, Death, Hate crime, and Physical abuse

kalross's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Child abuse, Transphobia, Death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death