Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

5 reviews

tinyjude's review

emotional funny lighthearted sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

One of my absolute highlights of this book was the relationship between Yamiret and Cesar. I love sibling relationships in books where they support each other.

Although some topics are triggering and hard to read, the book is so easy to follow and the lovable characters make the pain melt away a little. Bo is the absolute cutest and I love how much of a lesbian disaster both girls were, it was cute and lighthearted. It hurt to see Yamiret hide so much of herself, but I understand and I wish I had the courage Bo showed here when I was in my catholic school. As well as I understand the struggle to think about ways of earning money in case you get kicked out of home when you show yourself. Also Jamal and Cesar :( babies, I hope the best for them because they also seemed so cute.

It's always the art teacher or the English teacher and we love it audjsjs

The book also deals with topics such as cultural identity, police brutality (*cough* acab) and immigration/intolerance towards immigrants, sexuality, putting boundaries in relation with your adopted white family as a person of colour dettached from your culture and your people, mental health issues, homophobia, mentions of colonialism, racist encounters, colourism, stereotypes about latine people, especially women. 

I think the author did a fantastic job, and definitely all the tears I shed on the last chapters at 3 am are proof of that. But most of all, what filled my heart with joy and broke me was Yamiret and Cesar's mom. I love her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Biphobia, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Deportation, Violence, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Racism, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Forced institutionalization

marissab's review

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Outing, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Deportation, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic friendship, Classism, and Bullying

Minor: Alcohol, Police brutality, and Physical abuse

emily_mh's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-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

I don’t really feel capable of giving a proper, detailed review of this book because I am simply in awe of it. Just know that it is a perfect book about queerness, lesbians pining for each other, a gorgeous sibling relationship, celebrating every part of who you are, complicated families, mental health, the trauma of religious bigotry, being Brown and queer in a majority allocishet white space, forced separation from family, relearning to trust, rebonding with loved ones, simple and massive moments of joy, and ultimately, hope. I loved reading every second of it. 

My favourite quote was: “I can’t make him love himself. The closest I can get is loving myself unapologetically right in front of him.” 

Rep: lesbian Chicana MC, lesbian Chinese-American LI, bisexual Chicano SC, Native American (Navajo) SC, queer Black SC 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and Racism

Moderate: Deportation, Vomit, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Outing, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Violence, Grief, Bullying, Sexual content, Blood, Cursing, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Abortion

Moderate: forced separation from family, disownment, suicidal ideation Minor: loss of a loved one, colourism, one use of the Spanish homophobic m-slur, one use of the lesbophobic d-slur

toffishay's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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

3.5

This was a really emotional read! I felt very connected to Yamilet as I think many young women of color who went to a predominantly white institution will. Her struggles against racism (institutional and interpersonal), homophobia, sexism and unfair/unequal familial expectations, and her strong desire to be able to just live as herself, made this a very compelling and relatable read. I also like the way that her family life is fleshed out and many of the other characters in her school and her home life are able to grow and have some additional dimension. I think that the book dragged a little at the end. We were approaching wrap up and then another piece of plot happened that felt a little too tacked on and Hallmark-y. But it is a YA story and I think it would be something that a teenager would enjoy being incorporated. A really nice read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Racism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Self harm, Physical abuse, Outing, Alcohol, Sexism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Violence, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Child abuse, Classism, Hate crime, Deportation, and Blood

charlie1995's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic friendship, Outing, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child abuse