Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Rebellious Tide by Eddy Boudel Tan

3 reviews

anitaxlit's review

adventurous emotional fast-paced

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

2.5

Thanks to NetGalley and Dundurn press for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Rebellious Tide tells the story of Sebastien, a young biracial man who, after losing his mother, joins the staff of a luxury liner where the father he has never met works as a high ranking official. It is very much a story of found family and grappling with one's identity, with an element of mystery and the exotic setting of a cruise ship sailing the Mediterranean.

This novel looked very promising but I'm sad to say it fell a bit flat for me. When I picked it up I was expecting a reflective book that went deeper into Sebastien's journey of self-discovery than into the mystery plot, and that wasn't what I found. We do get a good amount of Sebastien struggling with his identity, his past actions and his growing self-awareness, and I think that was where the author's writing shone, but it was outstaged by the melodramatic antagonists and some elements (*cough* stun guns and tranquilizer darts *cough*) that seem taken from the most clichéd Hollywood action movies.

I enjoyed the interspersed anecdotes and the portrayal of Petit Géant, the town where Sebastien grew up. I think the author really captured the oppressive atmosphere of its small community while also letting readers know that Sebastien's unkind view, while justified, is incomplete. However, when it comes to life aboard the cruise ship, there was a lot of telling and little showing. For example we're often told that the members of staff and the crew think of each other as family, including Sebastien (even if he has barely been there for two weeks and for all we know most of his socialising has been limited to Ilya and Diya). I just couldn't believe the found family trope here because nothing had happened to justify these unbreakable bonds. Another problem I had was the big amount of secondary characters (although I must give the author props for the diversity), there are too many for any of them to feel fully developed. The exception would be Nikos, he was very interesting and solid.

All in all, The Rebellious Tide was entertaining and I believe it will be a good pick for people looking for a fast-paced mystery with a diverse cast of characters. It just wasn't for me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking and Confinement

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Infidelity

thebookgarden's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

Tan writes the age-old story of pompous kings, bastard sons and simmering rebellion – just with new age flair and based on a cruise ship. 

The formula might be old but the introduction of a new setting brings an unimaginable freshness to the story and it is only achievable because of the way it’s written. Most of the credit goes to the characters – from the golden trio of Ilya, Diya and Sebastian, to our bad guys, the crew and staff of the ship and even the ones Sebastian leaves behind. All the characters are fleshed out in such detail that you can see the author certainly loves each of them. While it was a little predictable (owing to the clichés it was working around and the oft-told storyline), I had a lot of fun reading it. 

I have to talk about the female characters in the story, even though all the major characters are male, the women outshine them when given the chance – Diya, Contessa, Ruby, Rosa (my favourite), Elena, Alexis, Athena – they were all strong and amazing in their own way. I absolutely adore Rosa – the lady who was a marshmallow at heart but still would wield a sword in the fight if needed (and also feed the enemy energy bars out of sympathy). And Diya! I was so happy to find at the forefront a badass mathematician who had my last name!! 

This book interweaves Greek tragedies, history of touristy European towns with the world in the underbelly of a cruise ship so well that I have nothing but amazement in my eyes. I absolutely love when authors take certain little things and intertwine them so well into their stories. 

I’m glad I picked this book and you should too once it’s out in the market! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking and Homophobia

mezzano's review

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

In Eddy Boudel Tan's sophomore novel, we follow Sebastien on a journey to find his father which soon explodes into a protest for workers rights and an investigation on what's really happening in room A66. This book has plenty of threads, revisiting Sebastien's past and present to tell the complete story. At about the 80% mark in the book, I worried that there were too man threads, and that a satisfying ending would be hard to pull off. Tan's writing was beautiful, and by the end of the book, every plot thread was answered in a meaningful way. 

One concern I had for the book early on was the main character's seemingly black and white perspective on the world around him, as I felt it lacked nuance and would be used as an excuse to avoid development on the antagonists in the story. While Sebastian remains mostly hard-set in his ideals, it was great to see some of his decisions waver as the story went on. There were undoubtedly some characters he wanted to believe more than the evidence he was gathering, and it added a great sense of tension to the story. When other characters started revealing their own views on morality--many of which were more grey--I found myself enjoying the sharp juxtaposition they shared with the protagonist. 

While the protagonist is always fighting for ideals which readers should easily emphasize with, such as friends, worker's rights, and transparency, there are moments where Sebastian goes too far. His relationship with the ship's captain

(who is Sebastian's father)

means that early on, many of the protagonists decisions seem self-serving. Later on, Sebastian goes to certain extremes in his own investigation, such as

threating a child with his family's murder

. These are all meaningful for the plot, and are used to compare the similarities between two characters on opposing sides.

Towards the end of the book, the ship's captain brings up the similarities he shares with his son, revealing the truth in his actions, and it is a great scene to highlight the building themes and messages throughout the book.

In the end, the protagonist does reveal the mystery of Room A66, the worker's right protest is resolved, and Sebastian gets the answers he had about his father in the beginning of the novel. 

My favorite aspects of this story, beyond the cinematic writing style and strong themes, was definitely the character interactions. Despite being a flawed protagonist, it is clear that Sebastian cares for and loves those he swears to protect. In an adventure to find out more about his father, he gains an entirely separate family and rekindles past friendships in the process. While most of the characters are Greek, there is plenty of LGBT representation, with some POC representation in the book (Asian-Canadian, Hispanic, Asian) as well. Racial background and sexual orientation enhance the plot, but are not at the center of the story, which is refreshing compared to other modern LGBT literature. 

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are my own. If this review seems interesting to you, the book comes out on July 13th, 2021. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Drug use and Terminal illness

Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Slavery: The secret of A66 is that it is where young women who are being trafficked are held. One victim is a character in the story, and tells of her kidnapping to others . Physical abuse, Violence, and Mental illness: Sebastian has a history with mood disorders with violent tendencies. Other characters are also seen striking other characters. One character is tazed. . Emotional abuse: Sebastian threatens a child to stay quiet or harm will come to his mother. . Toxic Relationship: Sebastian has a romantic interest who later gaslights and tries to confuse him into finding the truth. Sebastian's relationship with his father is also messy and tense. . Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity: There are characters in the story that attempt and are successful in either physically abusing or sexually harassing women on the ship. One female character is abused while the male character uses her to cheat on his wife. The female victims share a conversation while in port . Homophobia: When the protest sparks controversy with the ship leads, indecent sexual acts are listed as a reason for immediate firings. At least 2 characters are fired due to their sexual orientation. This is brought up and emphasized in the novel as inhumane and unjust. . Drug use: There is mentioning of alcohol on the luxury liner. Terminal illness: Sebastian's mother dies of chronic liver failure. .