Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

20 reviews

marissasa's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Sexual content, Alcohol, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

honeybeewitched87's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, Death, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Alcohol, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, and Violence

im_eebee's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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? Yes

1.75

Beautifully written, but I hate the main character with a burning passion. I need him to get over himself yesterday. All he does is hurt people. I don’t like books where the main character is so deeply unaware of how their actions affect others. Some people will find that as the highlight of this book, but I find it frustrating to read. I’ll definitely check out Baldwin’s other work because the writing style was the only part of this that I liked, but this was a miss for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Mental illness, Bullying, Alcohol, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Classism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Outing, Racism, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

michaelion's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

Automatic negative points for being pro-Paris / pro-France and using the French language. AUTOMATIC !!!!!! I can't help my dislike, nay I say hatred of those baguettes!

Negative points also for the main characters, all characters being white. I understand that the story couldn't be told without them being white. It's just hard for me to relate to white stories. I don't understand them. Usually when I read them I think "Okay but you don't have real problems. Why are you complaining?" Which is only halfway a joke. 55% a jape.

I did relate to the main character however. For future me reading this, you just broke up with your first girlfriend. You only related in some, a few ways, not completely, but it was noticeable.

Despite my criticisms the writing was lovely. It feels like thee queer/gay book that mothered or grandmothered queer books. I loved the brief analysis into gender and heteronorms. It came out of nowhere but it really stood out. Every thing you feel for the first time has already been felt by the rest of humanity a billion times over. I also love when classics can still be relatable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Abandonment, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

Minor: Miscarriage, Confinement, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Car accident, Biphobia, and Death of parent

lettucelaugh's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Misogyny and Murder

soupsswagreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Misogyny, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Grief, and Emotional abuse

berthe's review

adventurous emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Misogyny, Outing, and Suicidal thoughts

theremightbecupcakes's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I have tears in my eyes. That’s all I can say right now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Alcohol, Death, Murder, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Violence

kanderson246's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Murder, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

mirandyli's review

dark reflective sad slow-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

4.25

This is one of the more fascinating books I've read recently, especially when keeping in mind the context in which it was written - the author was a queer Black American in 1950s.

David, the main character, is written as a white, toxically masculine figure struggling with the indecisiveness and insecurity of being bisexual. This struggle still resonates today. Men like David are still everywhere. Every toxic decision he made just made me hate him so much more. He claims to love Giovanni passionately one minute, and the next minute he wants to rip Giovanni apart. When he voices his hatred of Giovanni, he's really voicing his hatred of himself. He is so unable to accept his queerness and hangs desperately onto his toxic masculinity, until eventually, he has hurt everyone who ever loved him. Giovanni isn't perfect by any means (exhibiting some pretty borderline behavior when he repeatedly states that if David leaves him, he'll die), but he still loves David despite his empty promises and lies. The book is a cautionary tale to not be a huge asshole, especially towards those who love you.

I often wondered why James Baldwin only chose to address either race or sexuality in his novels, but not both. After reading this book I kind of understand why. There is so much shit going on for David, and the tone of the book would have changed if he weren't white.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Biphobia, Death, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Homophobia