Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar

24 reviews

rexpostfacto's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Zeyn Joukhadar amazes once again. Their writing always reaches into my soul and leaves fingerprints. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deadnaming, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Grief, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia

jojo_'s review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Cancer, and Homophobia

Minor: Transphobia, Deadnaming, War, and Dementia

hramona's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

A book hasn’t touched me like this and left me with tears on my face since The Death of Vivek Oji. Utterly divine. Breathtaking. Magical. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Death

solenekeleroux's review

emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Transphobia, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Grief

unboxedjack's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book.   THIS BOOK.  I went into expecting some emotional response, but not to the degree I just experienced.  Joukhadar's prose is beautiful enough to stir a reaction, but his deft ability to use language to speak the unspoken in such a genuine and humble fashion is truly remarkable.  This book provided that and more.  The keen attention to the intersection of race, gender, SES, and sexuality (just to name a few) gave this book an authenticity I've rarely seen.  And as a transguy, I can't put into words just how cathartic it was to see such verisimilitude of that lived experience reflected back to me; I didn't know how hungry I was for that until I came to the last 50 pages or so.  

This was a book I didn't want to end, but I can't imagine it ending any other way.  It migrated its way into my heart and will nest there for quite some time.  Five stars, no question about it.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Grief, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, Racism, and Transphobia

laurareads87's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

The Thirty Names of Night is stunning -- beautiful writing, well structured, nuanced and well-developed characters and a clear setting.  The story alternates between two perspectives -- that of a young Syrian-American trans man living in contemporary-ish Little Syria in NYC, and that of Laila Z, a Syrian American artist who painted and drew birds and who disappeared decades prior.  Both are written in second person, with Nadir addressing his deceased mother and Laila Z's chapters in epistolary format.  This book had me in tears more than once (in the best possible way), and Joukhadar has handled many themes here -- immigration, loss, xenophobia, the pain of contorting oneself to fit gendered expectations, struggles with religion, grief, internalized and external trans- & homophobia, family (birth and chosen) -- so beautifully.  I am immensely grateful to Zeyn Joukhadar for this book, and look forward to reading more from him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Minor: War

seawarrior's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is such a beautiful book. Multiple times I re-read passages to ensure I fully absorbed their words and weight. The pages shine with poetry and reflections on grief, and end more rewardingly than I had dared to hope. I highly suggest reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Cancer, and Dementia

baponthecob's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, and Transphobia

Minor: Blood, Cancer, Dementia, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

nikolas_fox's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is outside the realm of my normal reads. However I am so glad I picked it up. The beginning was a bit hard for me to get into, but it was so very worth it. I saw myself represented in ways that I never expect to see on the page and I am immensely grateful to Zeyn for that. This book was a mixture of so many things and all of them together made this an amazing read. I do not think I will stop thinking about this book for quite some time, if ever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racism, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

moonyreadsbystarlight's review

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

 In beautiful prose, stories from two different times converge, connected by art, queerness, and community. This book explores grief, identity, and community in ways I have never seen articulated together in such a cohesive and breathtaking way. Each aspect of the story contains multitudes, weaved together so intentionally. I'm not sure I can even articulate all of my feelings or all aspects of the story with one read. It's one that I want to reread even more intentionally -- not just for theme or plot, but to peel back the emotional layers. I'm afraid this is more of a 3am rambling post than a proper review, but suffice it to say, this is an incredible book 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, and Child death

Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia

mensturation, child birth