Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

129 reviews

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

maggieperrien's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

While this book is a YA memoir of a black queer man, so I realize I am not the target audience, I appreciated hearing his experience and reflecting on what I can do to be a better friend and stand up for people whose voices are so often ignored. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Violence, Homophobia, and Sexual content

siobhanward's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

Johnson has a talent for drawing in readers and creating a narrative that feels like a conversation. I appreciated that they didn't shy away from challenges, while at the same time sharing stories of Black and queer joy in their life. I only wish that they could have shared more about their journey to who they are today. Johnson talked a lot about their life as a young adult, but didn't talk much about what happened between then and now. This was still a beautifully written read and I'm really happy to have read it. I think it's a great story of hope for any young person who may be struggling with their identity, as Johnson reminds us that it's not a smooth journey, but its a worthwhile one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Rape

rhiannon814r's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Grief

dianacarmel's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

I chose this book for the 2023 Popsugar Reading Challenge prompt “a book that’s been book that's been banned or challenged in any state in 2022”. According to the American Library Association, this is the #2 most challenged book. That alone makes it a worthy read. 

I’m giving my rating based on my appreciation for Johnson’s openness and on what I learned through his story, but I acknowledge the lower ratings from folks in the Black and queer communities who take issue with aspects of how Johnson frames his experiences. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Racism, and Racial slurs

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

dannothedino's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Cancer, Medical content, Outing, and Transphobia

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Slavery, and Police brutality

madz_lyr's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Death, and Sexual assault

honeybeewitched87's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Incest, Sexual content, Homophobia, Racial slurs, 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