Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Flamer by Mike Curato

128 reviews

ximajs's review

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hopeful inspiring

5.0


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woodiefrog's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.75

A beautiful story based on true experiences. I actually cried unexpectedly at page 319. Powerful and resonant and yes I agree to the rec on cover, “this book will save lives.”

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literatefox76's review

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

3.75


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bickie's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Set in 1995, the main character, who is part Filipino, goes to Boy Scout camp (as he always does) the summer before starting high school, which he has decided to attend at the public school rather than stay at his Catholic school. Aiden is an altar boy who is kind and helps both his mom and his ~4-year-old twin siblings deal with the explosive temper of his dad. Aiden is also relentlessly bullied for having what other boys think are "gay" characteristics, which he reflects are his voice and his general lack of misogynism, such as talking about liking girls for their personality characteristics rather than their bodies. Aiden knows what gay is and knows he's not that (though he learns eventually that he probably is).

While there is a fair amount of crude language, cursing, and gross locker room-type behavior, this book would be great for any middle schooler boy who does not feel entirely comfortable with hyper- and toxic masculinity. 

MC decides, after impulsively kissing a male friend on the cheek (who moves out of their 2-person tent at Boy Scout camp), to slit his wrists in the non-denominational chapel at camp; he is stopped by the life-fire of his soul, which speaks to him. 

There is crude language, including curse words, primarily but not exclusively spoken by the bullies. A lot of it is homophobic, such as making innuendoes about hot dogs and buns. There is one scene where Aiden enters a tent where the boys are hanging out "taking care of business" and realizes that they are masturbating into a soda bottle one by one. If one of them doesn't contribute any "cum," he has to drink it.

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kittyonfire's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense 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

3.75


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mnerd63's review against another edition

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

4.0


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sunshinemonarch's review

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fast-paced

3.0

Beutiful art and a nice reflexion on religious trauma impacting early teen life. It all happens during a boys camp and teen angst takes a front and center approach, although it has very pretty moments. 

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spark_879's review against another edition

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dark hopeful medium-paced

4.0

i read this book almost entirely to see what all the fuss was about with it being on so many banned book lists lol. it does deal with some difficult topics (
homophobia, racism, fatphobia, suicidal ideation
) but it seems clear to me that it's just being banned because people want to pretend those issues don't exist in our society.

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thirdtimesacharm's review against another edition

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

4.0


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kjurewicz's review

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emotional funny hopeful tense fast-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

5.0

A powerful read that is funny, tense, and relatable. An important read for any teen that is questioning their identity, sexuality, body image, and/or self worth. A review by Jarrett J. Krosoczka stated “This book will save lives” and I definitely agree. 

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