Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Ziggy, Stardust and Me by James Brandon

4 reviews

miloblue's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was super hard. There’s a lot of violence and self-harm and racism and internalized homophobia. That said, it is set at a super interesting and important time in queer history… and by extension American history.  Though fictional, it’s a part of history that we didn’t really study in school, and that certainly adds some context. 

There is also a lot of music and pop-culture woven through the book, with the main characters listening to a lot of records and finding affinity with David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Aladdin Sane, among other albums.

As of this writing I’m giving it 3.75 stars, and I’m really not sad that I read it, but it’s a heavy one, to be sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism and Self harm

Minor: Sexual violence, Police brutality, and Murder

the_true_monroe's review against another edition

funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

4.25

This book was intense, sad (yet funny), and beautiful. I think despite how much was accomplished and complete/ resolved (and by complete/ resolved, I don’t mean ‘all is well and good’ but ‘okay, that answers that’) I felt there were many other characters I wanted to hear from again. I just feel like there were abrupt ‘tie-offs’ to a few side characters.  

I think the variety of reactions to Jonathan and Web’s stories allows most queer people to relate on some level but it is really interesting to view with the historical and cultural lenses which are more specific to the characters, location and time period. 

I have recently come to love queer historical fiction and books like this are why.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Cultural appropriation

space_bandit's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: Drug use, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Self harm, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

e_reader's review

emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This book shattered my heart and put it back together again. Jonathan and Web’s story pulls at all of the heart strings, and I just wanted to give Jonathan a hug. The book ends with a little bit of hope and some tearful moments. 

In particular I found the conversion therapy and Web being Indigenous as central to the story and they definitely  add to the book. Contrary to what some people said, I actually really like this meandering style of writing, it gives it a poetic tone. And the imagery is just fantastic, don’t skip over the details. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Self harm and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts