Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster

4 reviews

sgrizzle's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I wanted to like this more than I did. It has a lot of structural elements that I generally do- multiple perspectives, told over time, but it just never quite came together. Too much was spent with characters who were ultimately secondary which left me feeling ultimately disconnected from what should have been the heart of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Homophobia and Addiction

mackenziem12's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Death, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Infertility, Racism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Cancer

elissareadsbooks's review

emotional reflective slow-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Racism, Bullying, Violence, Medical content, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Homophobia

katsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.0

“She hadn’t needed lectures or coddling; most girls didn’t. The needed choices.” 

 

“She was an ignorant woman, dangerous. Another woman’s child was laid up in the hospital, and all that she could see was the imagined threat to her own.” 

 

“It was too easy for people to see their interests and disinterests as pure, functions of their desires and personalities.” 

 

“Maybe this was another way that she was white: the ease with which she could ignore calamity, focus mainly on what she wanted.” 

 
“She wanted Gee to know this music was for him, that irreverence and rage weren’t just for white boys."

 “Go to your bosom; Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know.”

I must be getting old because this is one of those books that I would never been able to enjoy five years ago. It is so realistic. The characters feel raw and real. They're lovable, yet utterly fallible. I felt like I was reading a memoir; that's how realistic it was. Following that vein, it also meant that there wasn't necessarily a big reveal or climax per se. I was honestly stunned when I turned the final page because I felt like it could just keep going and going. I think the reason this book was really compelling to me is because it explores so many of the subtle nuances of racism, even when it's internalized. It wasn't portrayed as this character fault that is eventually triumphed over. I could see pieces of the Ventura girls, and especially Lacey May in so many of my own relatives. This is the type of book that could be read in a classroom. There are so many layers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Abortion, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Vomit