Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Giovanni's Room

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

311 reviews

quiettalker's review against another edition

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caseyreadslol's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

reading this having strong repression issues and in the slow progress of unpacking them is like having a chair thrown at you every five pages. insightful

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caseyjayner's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Oof. Beautifully written but terrible to read- I didn’t understand a lot of the social things that I think were customary at the time so I felt a little lost sometimes when people were interacting with “friends”. I think my least favorite part is thatt we everyone is described to hate each other and use each other anyway. As adults this seems a horrible way to live and confusing.
Idk, wasn’t for me. Misogyny and homophobia everywhere

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lerburger's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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simplythegirl's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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.

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marissasa's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is my first James Baldwin book and I have always heard that he was an excellent writer who truly understood the human condition, but oof did this classic literature toxic yaoi hit even harder than expected. In all seriousness though, there is so much pain and turmoil and suffering in this book, interspersed with a few moments of tenderness and genuine human connection that will make your heart lift, only to be followed again by trauma, drama, and heartbreak that will drop it back into your stomach. The writing is beautiful and poetic in a straightforward way, and it touches on the themes of isolation, identity, homophobia, and masculinity in a very purposeful manner. The ending in particular is haunting and this book is definitely a testament to the plight of queer people throughout history that will stick around in my mind for a while.

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emilymhb's review

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challenging dark emotional sad 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

Wow wow wow wow wow. Just beautiful.

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cecdex's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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graecus_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

i felt so many things while reading this. i dont know when the last time a book made me want to cry in the way that this one did. the portrayal of internalized homophobia really did something to me in a way that i did not expect. amazing.

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thegillbird's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

3.75

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