Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable

14 reviews

marslotus's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

I really really love the theme throughout this novel of misremembering formative events, such a real thing that can happen so often. I also love how imperfect Amanda is, a coming out story doesn't have to be innocent and the complexity of her relationships is so compelling.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Outing, Bullying, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Transphobia

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Infidelity, and Cursing

Minor: Death of parent and Sexual content

queenkath32's review

emotional hopeful mysterious tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Outing, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Bullying, and Toxic friendship

clemrain's review

emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.75

Expressive art, underdeveloped and overwhelming story.

The first third of the book was painful to get through. The second third picked up. And the last third sped through everything.

It took me a month to finish this, and that included me pushing through the first hundred pages over three days, not reading it for a month and completing the rest of the book slowly over two hours.

There was just a lot going on in this story and it would’ve been much better if the story arc spanned volumes instead of just pages of one volume.

I did not enjoy the characters.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Death of parent, Biphobia, Bullying, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Vomit, Grief, and Sexual content

rachelditty's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

I really enjoyed this! I didn't know anything about it before reading; I only knew it was queer. I was surprised when the first half wasn't centered around anything LGBT+, and more focused on something strange happening to Mads' family circumstances. But as things unfolded and Mads' worldviews were dissected, I started liking the story more and more. Religion especially was used in a way I'd never really seen before--the main character interacts with members of the church who are bigoted, but still attends mass because she feels it's a place where she is part of a community and things can really feel safe for her.  I thought the story was really well done, and even the more disrespectful aspects of the characters' views were portrayed super well and wrapped up neatly. So glad I read this, it was awesome.

Quotes I liked:

"Was it worse to leave him like that or to tell him he was ust part of a sciece experiment? A baking soda volcano, thrown together last minute, without thought. Without care." (p. 237)

"I could have pushed harder, gotten mom to let me stay home. But maybe I wanted to be judged. Maybe I knew the scale of 1 to 10 didn't even come close to being able to rank what I had done." (p. 244)

"Or I can just be myself, and tell people, 'Hey, I'm Amanda! And I happen to be gay!' Maybe even reverse it. 'Hey, I'm gay! And I happen to be Amanda!'" (p. 262).

"Dad was right. Always choose flying over invisibility." (p. 271).

"We don't get to choose who we love. But sometimes we get lucky and fall for someone wonderful." (p. 280).

"Kinda crazy that I had ever thought I was alone." (p. 291).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Child abuse, Deadnaming, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Outing

bookishsapphicshay's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense fast-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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Transphobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Incest

vaniavela's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

3.0

I found the art charming and expressive. There is a lot of emotion in their body language and expressions, which brings the story to life, compensating for aspects of the plot that were not to my total liking.

There is a lot of relationship drama in this graphic novel, as well as strong themes of homophobia and transphobia. 

I don't know how to rate it, but it was a decent read.

CW: Graphic=Transphobia, Homophobia, Religious bigotry. Moderate= Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Death of parent. Minor= Bullying, Child abuse, Death 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Deadnaming, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Death, Child abuse, and Bullying

flamesocks's review

medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, and Transphobia

animatorinator's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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? No

5.0

My New favorite book of all time

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Abandonment, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Death of parent, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

the_crooked_neighbor's review

emotional 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? No

5.0

I am really picky when it comes to graphic novels because I feel like it can be hard for them to really tell a full story. KN8 fills all of my requirements for a perfect graphic novel. It was long enough to tell the story it needed to tell and it had a great art style. I cried a lot- in a good way- because it really had the catharsis that I craved from the setup. I really appreciated that the comfort found in religion was portrayed alongside the harm that can come from it as a queer person. I am so glad I picked this one up.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Deadnaming, Abandonment, Bullying, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent and Death

The story handles the homophobia in a satisfying way- it is cathartic by the end. The transphobia- less so, but the characters definitely become less transphobic by the end. If it is not too triggering, I would still recommend the book because I felt that the pain from reading her experiences was overwhelmed by the joy of her acceptance by the end.

wynterwonderland's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Infidelity, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Sexual content