Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

101 reviews

river_dithers's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely adore this text. As a queer church kid it's all too relatable (although not to Jeanette's extreme!) I read it in one day as it moves quickly, and some of the quotes are truly exceptional! I also enjoyed the references to Arthurian Legend, specifically Sir Percival.

Content Warnings

nightfell's review against another edition

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challenging informative slow-paced

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

3.0

Reading about Jeanette's heavily religious upbringing was fascinating. The sort of things she would do or say or think that was so normalised within her community then seeing the disparity in her interactions at school made for an interesting narrative. I would have liked the author to have gone into more depth relating to the queer aspect of the novel, her internal thoughts and fears that come with self-discovery and her grappling with that was a missed opportunity as her 'coming out' was so abrupt. The magical realism element was at times confusing and ultimately I found it unnecessary and distracting but I'm sure it had a literary purpose, just not one that I appreciated.

Anyone with any religious trauma, queer or not, should take caution, this is a heavy one.

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poison_frogs's review against another edition

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reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

I enjoyed this a 3 star amount but don't want to rate it 3 stars because it was well written, if a little odd.
Just not the book for me I think. If you are looking for a queer, very literary exploration of growing up and coming of age inside a church, this book is for you.

Content Warnings