Reviews tagging 'Deadnaming'

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

115 reviews

zluvsreading's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I've always said it feels so wrong to rate memoirs/biographies because they are so personal and it takes a certain amount of bravery and vulnerability from the author to be willing to share this with the entire world. However, this feels like a solid five stars simply because I loved everything about this and how it was written. This is an important book and I think should be required reading, even if it was difficult/challenging to read at times but that doesn't mean we just don't read it. We just take the time to ask ourselves why it was challenging and have open discussions with others about it.

pre-review: This book spoke to me on so many different levels, my heart hurts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual content, Racism, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Outing

Minor: Death

kteliza28's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

Really enjoyed this memoir about growing up black and queer. The first 2/3 of this book were the best: the childhood upbringing, growing into oneself and trying to understand identity, family dynamics and dealing with hate in all its forms (especially the emphasis on micro aggressions). It was actually the most informative part for me, especially the un-learning of what we’ve been taught in our history classes. This story was different to me because not everything was a struggle. At first I was so surprised that the authors family was pretty much fully supportive from the get go (some members more than others but mostly supportive). You read books like this and think everything has to be a downhill battle the whole time and how the author preserved and came out of it heroic, but it was a really nice change of pace to hear the story of someone who didn’t have it all bad but still dealt with very negative things and also still hasn’t figured everything out yet. As someone not black and not gay, reading someone’s story of sexuality and their feelings around sex in general was actually something I could connect with. I do think this book kinda loses me a little around the time the author goes to college. There were some elements of the story that played into the theme of the book but at times felt like I was just hearing a day to day recall of a pretty mundane college life. But maybe that’s the point. Again, you don’t need to struggle 100% of the time or have a drama filled life 100% of the time to write about it. This is not to detract from what the author went through. There are MANY times throughout this memoir where I was shaking my head in sadness and disgust for what he went through. But there was hope and happiness here too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Moderate: Physical abuse, Homophobia, and Child abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Drug use, and Deadnaming

jenniferbbookdragon's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

A powerful memoir about growing up Black and queer, this book has been targeted by those who believe banning books about controversial topics is necessary to protect children. Johnson directly addresses racism,  homophobia,  bullying, and sexual abuse, all of which impact teens in their daily lives. He argues that they need books like this to know they aren't alone and to empathize with peers facing these issues.  I agree.
Johnson describes his introduction to sex in college as difficult due to the lack of sex education for queer youth. 
Their struggles with identity and sexuality are addressed in the  context of a supportive family,  something many young people lack. Johnson's story is one of strength and hope. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, Homophobia, Racism, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Incest, Cultural appropriation, Deadnaming, and Drug use

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Outing, Violence, and Blood

brittknee52's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Racism, and Homophobia

Moderate: Transphobia and Deadnaming

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

This is my second time reading this book, for a book club, but this time I read the physical book instead of listening to it. There's so much in here that's written for teens to see themselves, especially Black queer teens, who don't normally get to see themselves reflected in media. Which is why these kinds of books are so important to include in library collections.

Johnson has an easily accessible writing style, and many of their experiences are ones that teens will be able to relate to and learn from. I highly recommend it if you like memoirs!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, Deadnaming, and Racism

jessspeake's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Homophobia, Racism, Bullying, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Grief, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Medical content, Outing, Transphobia, and Violence

Minor: Blood

madisone's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Deadnaming, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Drug use, Incest, and Sexual assault

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I read this for a college course and it was so good. I don’t know if I personally would categorize it as YA because the sexual and violent scenes were quite graphic. I identified with the book which surprised me because I am a cisgendered white woman. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Alcohol, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, Cursing, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Death, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Bullying, and Incest

Moderate: Gun violence, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Minor: Child death

traa's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Death, Death of parent, Cursing, Outing, Drug use, and Racism

Minor: Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Police brutality

momogajo's review

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Bullying, Racism, Homophobia, Violence, and Racial slurs

Minor: Outing, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Drug use, and Deadnaming