Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Ziggy, Stardust and Me by James Brandon

6 reviews

endemictoearth's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

This one is a tough read. I had to pause for a while in the middle, but managed to power through one sad patch to make it to many more tense and sad moments. 

There was a real 'wowie zowie' Paul Zindel-esque quality to this book set in the summer of 1973. I would be interested to hear what younger audiences thought about that aspect of the book. (Especially as I don't think many kids these days are reading Zindel.)

I did cry a couple times; it's really hard not to. Jonathan is in a real tough situation, and meeting Web, his love interest, only makes it tougher. Web is Native American and we get a lot about that, much of it being slurs from white townsfolk, which is hard to read, though no doubt how it was.

Definitely check out the content warnings for this book before reading it, to make sure you're in the right frame of mind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Death of parent

earth_to_mars's review

dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Drug use

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

asmodeous's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Outing

Minor: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

kellysbookverse's review

challenging emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Torture, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Addiction

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