Reviews with content warning for Death - All Boys Aren't Blue

Reviews tagging 'Death'

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

181 reviews

zoealea's review against another edition

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4.0

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autismandniamh's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

Heart-wrenching, searingly honest and shocking. There was occasional “finding my journey” speak which came across a little cringe; plus the SA chapter was incredibly difficult to read and felt overly sympathetic to the abuser, even with the disclaimer at the end of the chapter. In addition, the fraternity parts read like self-immolation rather than self-realisation and finding family, but what do I know? I’ve never been in one. You can’t fault George for his honesty though.

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kjofalltrades's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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sarahc_v's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad

3.75

I will start by saying that I don’t think I am the target audience for this book which did impact my experience reading it. I think it’s very important that this book exists and that it will be so incredibly beneficial to queer teens, black teens, and especially black queer teens. It was interesting to see George’s experience growing up in the 90s as a queer person which is very different from how younger people experience it. I liked overall the concepts and the meaning/significance of the book, but I wasn’t wild about the writing style. As other reviews pointed out, the sentences were very choppy and because I was listening to the audiobook that was especially noticeable. I’d say that the first 3/4 of the book weren’t anything extraordinary to me, but I really enjoyed the last 1/4 and hearing about the college experience and everything about Kenny. Having also

built a very close friend group in college who became my family (and whom my parents had met many times) and the one of those friends died

the section about

Kenny’s death

really deeply resonated with me and I found George’s reflection on it very insightful. So if only for that section, I am very glad to have read this book. I would also recommend this book to those trying to learn more about the black queer experience - obviously George’s journey isn’t universal but it is a good introduction for those who want to learn more (having already been pretty familiar through other books and media, this wasn’t as impactful to me).

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andersonstovall's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.5

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kcsadowsky's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

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ryannreidreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

Beautiful memoir and a manifesto very much needed for teens. It’s such a quick read and even though the content can be very tough, super necessary and distilled into an empowering piece.

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