Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

53 reviews

ez_heath's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

bookwormbi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Reading James Baldwin is always the best decision 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Sexual assault

henrytinker's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

Not for me, but I think it's just personal taste so I didn't give it a rating. I understand why this book is important, but I just hated everyone in it so it was hard to care about anything that happened. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, and Transphobia

Minor: Sexual assault

theremightbecupcakes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

I have tears in my eyes. That’s all I can say right now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment

thecatconstellation's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

kers_tin's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

miller8d's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I like James Baldwin’s poetic language and poignant emotional description but

I found the ending of this book quite disappointing and I really wish there had been more plot to this book. It felt like nothing really happened in comparison to how much of the book was spent explaining— it was a lot of telling and not a lot of showing, which isn’t bad, it’s just not my preference. James Baldwin is incredible and brilliant and this book is historically significant, but I did not enjoy it very much.

Note: I pictured James Baldwin as Giovanni, and Hugh Dennis as Jacques.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

purplehulk713's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.25

This book only truly interested me at the very end when Giovanni is calling David out on all his bullshit. It felt so much like what people consider “literature” otherwise—clever and well-thought-out, but too dense and tedious to read to be of any real enjoyment to anyone who’s not an English scholar (and I’m speaking as university writing minor). But as a landmark in queer fiction, it does deserve praise. I just wish that it  didn’t make me want so much for it to be over while reading more than it made me enjoy its poetic prose and insights (David is so frustrating, and Jacques and Guillaume are disgusting). But facing the sincerity embodied in Giovanni’s room was a truly tantalizing subject.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

emilo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Grief, and Murder

amberlen's review against another edition

challenging sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I had to grapple with this book a little.
Especially for it's length it is a complex & nuanced story. Truly well crafted. I appreciated all the layers Giovanni & David's relationship had, as well as the troubled relationship David had with his homosexuality.
But the misogyny? Oh, boy. On a different level.
And listen, it was the 50s and it's not as if some misogynistic views weren't believable for these characters. I guess it is understandable that these gay men would resent women somewhat and their internalised homophobia explains why they despise more feminine men. In addition, the women in this novel did get their own voice & called men out from time to time.
However, making every single feminine man despicable is very shady.

And having Giovanni casually admit that he has beaten women and him and David laughing about it was just alienating.

I could have rooted so much more for these characters, if the author had toned this down a bit. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death and Sexual assault