Reviews tagging 'Incest'

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

125 reviews

ladyleigh's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Incest, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

autismandniamh's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Violence, Racism, Outing, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

Moderate: Physical abuse, Incest, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug use

mari1532's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

I listened to this audiobook through my library on Libby. 

Brief Summary: A memoir that explores the experience of a Black, Queer person growing up. Johnson provides essays about their life that include experiences navigating racism, homophobia, sex, love, and joy.

Thoughts: This is a beautifully written book. Johnson has such a clear understanding of how growing up can be such a difficult process and how learning to love yourself is truly the first step to an enlightened understanding of the world. 

I really loved every essay that included stories of Johnson's grandmother. The love and admiration that they have for each other was so touching to read. I also think that it is so important that Johnson highlighted how their grandmother and others in their family may not have had a perfect response to the queer members of the family, but that their love for each other always came first and that love allowed for growth and acceptance on all sides.

I also appreciate the way that Johson discusses their sexual experiences. I think that even in a young adult book it is important to discuss topics like these because making them taboo makes it difficult for people to feel comfortable discussing the topic and asking questions. 

Even if you are not a young adult this is a great book to read. It is beautifully and thoughtfully written. I would highly recommend this book  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Incest, Homophobia, Bullying, Racism, Violence, Rape, and Deadnaming

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

alyvia_jeane's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Incest, Transphobia, and Homophobia

kjofalltrades's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Homophobia, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Incest, Deadnaming, and Death

Moderate: Cancer, Outing, and Transphobia

Minor: Alcohol

sabrinalefebvre's review

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

4.5

Im not sure how to rate or talk about this memoir. Ill just say that I highly recommend and that I hope that the intended audience, teenagers, can have access to books like this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Incest

shinie's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Incest

garbagebarge69's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Sexual content

Moderate: Outing and Grief

Minor: Incest, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Rape, and Alcohol

sarahc_v's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual assault, and Death

Moderate: Deadnaming

ryannreidreads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Death, and Racism