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Reviews tagging 'Child death'
Queer Africa: New and Collected Fiction by Karen Martin, Makhosazana Xaba
1 review
theaceofpages's review
challenging
emotional
3.5
If you are interested in the stories and experiences of people outside of the USA and UK (and Europe in general although this is talked about less than the former) I would definitely recommend picking this up. Is it my favourite book? No. But it does explore the experiences of queer people that are largely ignored. Some of the stories are a little uncomfortable (particularly A Boy is a boy is a and In the Way she Glides in my case) because of the topics they choose to explore - that's not to say that these make them bad of course! Just be aware that some have difficult contents.
This book does mostly contain southern African authors so although containing a diverse range of stories it doesn't necessarily have the biggest geographic diversity (I'm not sure how this changes in the second book). I also felt like it was slightly biased to mlm characters, but when I counted it up it was split about equally between mlm and wlw representation. A few of the wlw stories are more about longing rather than relationships though, which may have contributed towards this feeling. Of course there is nothing wrong with these kinds of stories though! I definitely didn't dislike them and they represent very real experiences and issues that queer women face. It just maybe made the book feel a little skewed.
I thought I'd list which stories contain which content warnings for those who need them. All are individually spoilered. I apologise if I missed any!
Graphic:
Homophobia:The Big Stick, A boy is a boy is a
Sexual violence/ rape:A boy is a boy is a
Sexual content:Pelican Boy, Chapter 13, All covered up
Moderate:
Adult/minor relationship:No actual relationship but a swim coach sexualising her students. Her main interest is 17 years old. Her age is mentioned once in passing (commenting on how her swimming costume makes her look like a five year old in a seventeen year old's body) and the students are mostly referred to as girls. I found it kind of uncomfortable
Bullying:The Big Stick
Drug abuse:Pelican Boy
Homophobia:Leaving Civvy Street, Rock - being told not to return until she marries a man, any man, Sethunya Likes Girls Better - internalised homophobia
Sexual content:Impepho - you can skip the last two paragraphs. Before this it's just two men enjoying hiking together, A boy is a boy is a
Minor:
Animal death:Sethunya Likes Girls Better
Child death:Poisoned Grief
Death: Poisoned Grief, The Bath - whole story is about the lead up in past tense
Fatphobia:Lower Main, In the Way She Glides
Gun violence:A boy is a boy is a -Main character feels threatened/intimidated by the guns of the soldiers around him, even if they are never used on him, Pinch - also be warned that the ending, while vague, is upsetting
Misogyny:A boy is a boy is a - slurs
War: A boy is a boy is a, Pinch
This book does mostly contain southern African authors so although containing a diverse range of stories it doesn't necessarily have the biggest geographic diversity (I'm not sure how this changes in the second book). I also felt like it was slightly biased to mlm characters, but when I counted it up it was split about equally between mlm and wlw representation. A few of the wlw stories are more about longing rather than relationships though, which may have contributed towards this feeling. Of course there is nothing wrong with these kinds of stories though! I definitely didn't dislike them and they represent very real experiences and issues that queer women face. It just maybe made the book feel a little skewed.
I thought I'd list which stories contain which content warnings for those who need them. All are individually spoilered. I apologise if I missed any!
Graphic:
Homophobia:
Sexual violence/ rape:
Sexual content:
Moderate:
Adult/minor relationship:
Bullying:
Drug abuse:
Homophobia:
Sexual content:
Minor:
Animal death:
Child death:
Death:
Fatphobia:
Gun violence:
Misogyny:
War:
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual violence, and Rape
Moderate: Sexual content, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying
Minor: Gun violence, Child death, Animal death, Death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, and War
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