Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian

5 reviews

jeleigh16's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wanted to absolutely love this book. I enjoyed it, but there were things about it that kept me from giving this 5 stars. The main issue I found was the consent issue. There was more than one character forcing themselves on another character in the name of teenage lust. If the book didn't have that element or they'd more strongly communicated about that difficulty in their relationships, I would have had an easier time with it. The representation of various experiences of these teens during the late 80s/early 90s in NYC during the AIDS epidemic was well done though and the ending does bring the themes together nicely. It certainly showcased what it means to learn to be a part of this thing we call community.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Terminal illness

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Excrement, Homophobia, Infidelity, Death, Death of parent, Bullying, Cancer, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Hate crime, Chronic illness, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Grief, Outing, Medical content, and Racism

Minor: Gun violence

kibbles15's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

1.5

I have thought a lot about how to explain why I did not like this book.  I think the main reason I did not like it is because I feel that it had so much potential and the author ruined the story with unlikable characters and way more sexual descriptions than seem appropriate for a book intended for teens.   I don't have any kids, but if I did, gay or straight, I would not want them to read this book.  It promotes underage drinking and sexual intercourse without any real references to the consequences of such actions.  I also don't like how the author persistantly implied that sexual intercourse equals love when in reality it is so much more.  Almost every relationship in the book (be it Judy and Raza or Art and Raza) was based solely on the physical attraction of each for the other. Judy and Art were honestly almost predatory in their relationships with Raza. To be honest, the only relationship I believed was that of the Uncle Stephen and his relationship with the people around him.  Stephen was the only character that seemed to have any depth.  His relationship with his friends, his passion to stand up for his beliefs despite his health, his love of old movies, and his efforts to teach his teenage protégés with love were the only thing I liked about this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Chronic illness, Grief, Homophobia, and Sexual content

ranjanireviewsreads's review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Death of parent, Hate crime, Misogyny, Cursing, Medical content, Grief, Police brutality, and Death

caitlink's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Cursing

alisazhup's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Blood, Police brutality, and Suicide