Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Flamer by Mike Curato

15 reviews

bickie's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Fatphobia, Cursing, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Bullying

Moderate: Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

maeve_littooij's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow what a powerful graphic novel. This graphic novel almost reads like a memoir, it's so personal. This is honestly one of the most personal, deeply moving and most beautiful graphic novel I’ve ever read. It made a lot of impact on me. After reading this I feel so much pride for the author. This graphic novel could save a life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Bullying, and Body shaming

Moderate: Outing, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

hdunscombe's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Racism, Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Violence, Body shaming, and Domestic abuse

meganpbell's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

When I saw this graphic novel was not only the 4th most banned and challenged book in the country in 2022, but also effectively banned in nearby Marietta this year, I had to read it for myself. Flamer tells the semi-autobiographical story of a Boy Scout struggling with homophobia, racism, and fatphobia during his last week of camp before high school. Moving, vividly told, and deeply compassionate, this is an important story to have on our shelves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, and Racism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Fatphobia, Violence, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse

marlydawn's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Bullying, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Body shaming, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Racial slurs

nicoleonbooks's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? No

5.0

Heartwrenching. LGBTQ+ kids, and adults, will find themselves in Aiden and his struggle around his sexuality. The art perfectly matched the story. Perfect use of color to depict emotion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Bullying

Minor: Domestic abuse and Outing

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

This is so beautifully drawn. Curato's black-and-white landscapes are stunning, and the occasional pops of red and orange are perfectly chosen and placed. I kind of want to go back through it and just look at the pictures, without reading the words.

Because the words are... they're rough, y'all. I'm not too much older than the characters here, and it was a terrible time to be a young queer person. Or a young person other people thought was queer. Or a young person who was just different in any way. And yet we all yearned for connection and belonging, no matter how many times other people broke our hearts. Curato looks at all of that with an unflinching honesty that made the book kind of difficult to get through. He tells a vitally important story, but not, perhaps, one you'll want to revisit, despite the hopeful ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Racism, Religious bigotry, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Body horror, and Sexism

livlamentloathe's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad

• 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

4.0

A brutally honest but emotional story. I've been Aiden before, thinking "I'm not gay because-." I've had dreams that I never told anyone about because they were sexual and about other girls and I was scared. It's terrifying to be a child and told you CAN'T be a certain way. I'm so glad Aiden (and Mike) survived their experiences. I'm glad this story exists to show that people will always love you. Even if things seem lonely and awful, there's always someone out there who cares, who would miss you. Jean Grey was a great allusion. I enjoyed this book a great deal. I hope it stays on library shelves forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Bullying

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, and Suicidal thoughts

leguinstan's review

emotional hopeful sad fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Racism, Suicide attempt, Fatphobia, and Bullying

Minor: Violence

homophobia: homophobic characters, internalized homophobia, homophobic slurs racism: antiasian racism fatphobia: internalized fatphobia, fatphobic bullying

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