Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

49 reviews

thomasdj's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcoholism

b0ygenius's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Cursing and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, and Death of parent

ocean's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying and Violence

astridmalmhester's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Biphobia

thesawyerbean's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

Nobody can stay in the garden of Eden.

A vivid and devastating piece of queer literature - both brave and important to portray the experiences of queer men, the struggles of coming to terms with their identity and the asphyxiating force of internal conflicts and prejudice within the historical context of its writing. I could not unpick the knot in my throat as I read through to the conclusion, seeing how the vulnerable budding romance soured into tragedy.

I can’t help feeling that I placed him in the shadow of the knife.

This was a fantastic read. However, while the power of the descriptive prose was evident and affecting, the long-winded, punctuation-ridden sentences were often confusing and convoluted. The metaphorical language was gorgeous, but also in some ways overdone in my opinion. 

Despite these criticisms, I do believe this to be a must-read for fans of classics and queer literature.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Child death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Murder, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

li_reading's review against another edition

4.0

It was very good, and absolutely wretched

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, and Homophobia

Moderate: Classism, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Alcoholism

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I honestly loved this book and I’ve been wanting to read it for a while! I finished it in about 3 days as an audiobook. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Murder, Child death, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Biphobia

nica_chan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

chloebethx_'s review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

James Baldwin really created a short masterpiece in this book, the emotions and struggles with sexual identity and finding your place in society were so well articulated and written out on the page that it took my breath away. Other reviews have put it in much better terms than I could, but this book is truly beautiful!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

alayamorning's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Devastating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Transphobia, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship