Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Giovanni's Room

I took my sweet time with this because I couldn’t get past the first chapter without crying and wanting to wail. Not to be dramatic but I was punched and kicked in the gut several times and by the end I was utterly devastated, scrubbed raw, and terrified for my own life. I unfortunately resonated with David’s character to such an uncomfortable degree that I had to take several breaks reading this (although I did do a lot of research on James Baldwin’s activism in the interim. He is a magnificent writer and orator).
I cannot stress how much I hated reading Giovanni’s Room /pos and now I am obsessed with James Baldwin’s writing and I am so excited to read his other works—ESPECIALLY HIS ESSAYS. TO ME, PERSONALLY, this book was like a free therapy session that came with a very alarming liability waiver.

Content Warnings

emmas_reads_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

i’m not quite sure how this is the second book in a row that has managed to make me cry, but it has.

it took me almost to the end to really understand this story, which i find upsetting (for me) because i want to enjoy this story for what it is - an exploration of too little, too late; the impact of internalized homophobia on the self in the 1950s; the morality and immorality of love, and the impact that has on relationships.

giovanni and david’s relationship was doomed from the beginning. giovanni, i’m convinced, had depression (whether from his stillborn child or otherwise); david was stuck much too far in his head, shutting out and denying every signal of possible reciprocity to men he realized.

i read another review where the reviewer said that baldwin intentionally creates the confusion that david is feeling throughout the book, and i’m inclined to agree. whether that’s through the strange, jumping timeline; the long-winded and run-on sentences and paragraphs; the usage of french without providing translations (i refuse to believe that isn’t intentional).

Content Warnings

everesto's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

I read this book for school and really enjoyed it. All of the characters (except Hella) were all awful people and like half of them were pedophiles BUT I was very invested in the story and really wanted to know how the story got to the point where Giovanni was getting executed. Baldwins writing style is very beautiful and the way he uses repetition of words to reinforce and highlight certain ideas really stuck out to me. I also really liked the way he switched between tenses so often, not many other writers would not have been able to pull that off without it being really confusing. I was not a fan of the portrayal of trans/genderqueer people or the ideas on women but I think that's due to just who David is as a character and also the time this book was written.

Content Warnings