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e_r_q's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
"I feel in myself now a faint, a dreadful stirring of what so overwhelmingly stirred in me then, great thirsty heat, and trembling, and tenderness so painful I thought my heart would burst."
Despite being only 150 pages long, it did take me a while to read Giovanni's Room. It's definitely a lot to digest, it's very literary and emotionally intense, but those are also exactly the reasons I love this book so much.
With his powerful prose, it feels as though James Baldwin is reaching across time, right into the depths of my Queer soul. Honestly, sometimes it even hurt to read this (in a good way).
Giovanni's Room is a story of self-destruction, identity, shame, repression, alienation, gender and sexuality. It's a tale that examines the destructive forces of toxic masculinity, and internalised homophobia and misogyny. To quote Baldwin himself:
"It's about what happens to you if you're afraid to love anybody."
"But if I were still able to feel affection and if he had seen it in my eyes, it would not have helped, for affection, for the boys I was doomed to look at, was vastly more frightening than lust."
Baldwin is a master at writing. The way he plays with tense/chronology/structure is especially ingenious. While very literary, his writing isn't impenetrable, and is still filled to the brim with complex themes, intensity, symbolism and poeticism. Every sentence is so perfectly crafted, and there are so many quotes that just took my breath away.
I honestly can't do this book justice with words. Just read it. It's life changing.
As I finished this book in a graveyard, bathed in the gleam of the Spring sunlight, the striking potency of the climax involuntarily caused me to frantically hold the book closer to my face. And when it was over, with that haunting denouement, I closed the book and sat there for a while in silence.
"No matter how it seems now, I must confess: I loved him. I do not think that I will ever love anyone like that again."
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Minor: Misogyny and Sexual content
annkimn's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
marija_m95's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Misogyny, Child death, Homophobia, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
savanha_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Murder, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Suicidal thoughts
adararising's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Homophobia, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Biphobia, Death, and Rape
goddessofwhatnot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Reading this was like bobbing out on the open ocean, life vest on, but seeing nothing but wave after wave of misery and devastation coming your way
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Infidelity, Bullying, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexism
Minor: Death, Self harm, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Abandonment, Child death, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, and Biphobia
arsmithwick19's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage and Suicidal thoughts
anushareflects's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Minor: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Suicide attempt
kendal_reads's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content, Misogyny, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Transphobia
khakipantsofsex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder