Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Flamer by Mike Curato

22 reviews

pich's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective tense fast-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

2.75

(2.75 leaning towards 3 stars) 
i really liked the symbolism behind the fire, even if it was pretty simple. i think the story started to pick up more towards the middle, but i still liked it. the religious themes were definitely pretty relatable, for me at least.

obviously the scenes involving masturbation made me uncomfortable, but i’m glad they didn’t drag on for an unnecessarily long time. i would’ve liked for ted to have had another appearance, maybe with a letter of some sort delivered to Aiden.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Bullying, Cursing, and Homophobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual content

Minor: Body shaming and Racial slurs

dana_naylor's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Excellent. I found the use of color to be very effective. Graphic novel is set in 1995. I’m glad we have had a number of societal changes so being gay is more accepted than it was, but we still have a ways to go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Bullying, and Sexual content

Moderate: Fatphobia and Body shaming

Minor: Domestic abuse

robinks's review

adventurous challenging hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I flew through this book, though as a fellow QT AAPI person, it was really challenging to read through the bullying and Aiden’s palpable feelings. I didn’t really like the art style, and the flame metaphor was a bit of a stretch, but overall this is a powerful, hopefully story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Bullying, and Misogyny

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, Outing, and Sexual content

davidbythebay's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

This was very nice and encompasses some different perspectives than a lot of the mainstream LGBTQ material out there. First, the main character is a questioning Asian-American male. This is definitely an underrepresented demographic. Second, he knows he's gay but can't really admit to it. This is so incredibly relatable. Additionally, we have the Christian angle where our MC is struggling with his faith. This scout camp being homophobic is also another perspective we don't always get. Finally, we have the lovely aspect of mental health wherein our MC is struggling but doesn't appear to be diagnosed with anything outright. How his faith and inner self help him through is a big portion of this book. 

This is a story with no ending and a number of dangling threads that still feels complete. That makes this a wonderful story to foster discussion and introspection - some of my favorite kinds of LGBTQ+ material do this. Overall, this was delightful and provides a unique point of view on coming to terms with being gay, but not coming out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Bullying, Homophobia, Cursing, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

zoes_human's review

dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Between home stresses, racism, and bullying, Aidan is already in a state of chaos as he attends Boy Scout camp in the summer between middle and high school. In addition to now facing a change in schools, his sexuality is starting to emerge in an unanticipated manner and he faces a crisis of hope. Heartbreaking but hopeful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Bullying, and Homophobia

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Fatphobia and Sexual content

christaftersunset's review

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

this book is literally so beautiful

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Outing

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

💭 My thoughts 💭: Aiden’s experiences with bullies making it hard to just be himself are unfortunately not uncommon. I liked the way this book tackles tough topics without flinching. We get to see Aiden’s personality really clearly in these pages and feel his pain. I felt like this book might make someone else going through similar things feel less lonely.

📚 The gist 📚: Aiden gets picked on regularly for being fat, unmanly, and Asian American. Summer camp with the Boy Scouts has always given him an escape from his problems. Except  for this year. This year his problems have followed him to camp. 

📒Representation📒: mlm mc, Philippino-American mc, overweight mc

💕 For readers looking for 💕: summer camp/Boy Scouts, journeys for self-acceptance, inner conflict, a queer story with strong religious themes, a story based on the author’s  own experiences

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Racism, Homophobia, Bullying, Outing, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual content

ashleycmms's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Blood, Body shaming, and Bullying

Moderate: Fatphobia

Lots of usage of the F slur, lots of talks about bodies!

tinyelfarcanist's review

emotional hopeful 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

3.0

Flamer is a collection of toxic masculinity tropes represented in Aiden's summer camp peers and the bullying he is a victim of.

I was excited to read this highly rated queer tale. Unfortunately, I couldn't relate to the MC and the character development felt rushed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Outing, Sexual content, Misogyny, Racism, and Body shaming

Minor: Fatphobia

megbomb's review

challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Sexual content, and Bullying

Minor: Body shaming, Racism, and Outing