Reviews with content warning for Death - Giovanni's Room

This is definitely my favorite James Baldwin book. He explores questioning and denying one's sexual identity, power dynamics, class differences, citizenship, the American dream, homophobia, and racism. Racism can be seen when you decode his characters I believe if Baldwin was alive today he definitely would have made David obviously African American since he would no longer have to worry about audiences laughing him off/not taking him serious for having an African American man who questions his sexual identity as a main character. The writing is beautiful and I love the symbolism.

By the end of the book it seems like how David identifies (gay straight or bisexual) is still up for debate. His decision in the end can be seen as further denial of his true self especially during times where it wasn't accepted to be anything but straight but others can interpret his decision as ending an experimental time for David.

His decision could also be symbolic of a part of himself dying much like Giovanni died.

Content Warnings

annkimn's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Absolutely gorgeous. Explores the pain of queerness the pain of love in words that were so accurate and breathtakingly beautiful. Reading Baldwin left his voice in my head and I felt like he was digging down into my own spirit to touch and name things I hadn’t been able to name in quite the same way before.

Content Warnings

jacob_t's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Deeply, painfully relatable.

Content Warnings

savanha_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Content Warnings

sorcha's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.75

Content Warnings

merlinagarance's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This is an important read but let me preface by saying this is not a romance. It’s a tragedy. Baldwin’s writing is incisive and you can feel the internalised homophobia the character experiences, that leads to the tragic ending. Historically, it’s very interesting to find out what Paris was like for queer people in the 50s - more accepting that you’d think.

Content Warnings

adararising's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

andiehales's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

More...