Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Ziggy, Stardust and Me by James Brandon

6 reviews

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

moony__3's review

adventurous challenging hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

i like the concept but i cringed a lot. didn't like the writing style, you can definitely tell it's the authors first novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual violence, and Outing

Moderate: Racial slurs

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

hannahfaith25's review

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Medical trauma, and Outing

Explicit detail about conversion therapy

truechamp's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

i thought it was nice how the story gave insight to hot topics of the time. i feel like it could probably be seen as weird that a white person wrote about racism like that

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pedophilia, Medical content, Death of parent, Outing, and Sexual harassment

sarahcherie's review

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? It's complicated

2.0

I feel like one of the few who do not like this book. On the one hand, we have representation for Indigenous people, Black people, and gay people, which is always nice to see.

However, this book does fall victim to the "the bad guy is also secretly gay" trope TWICE, with Scott and Hal, and I think that trope can be very damaging.

And even though dealing with racism and homophobia was a major theme in this book, I couldn't help but feel like slurs and ignorance were thrown around TOO much, to the point where reading it no longer left a bad taste in my mouth, but just made me roll my eyes and skip ahead. I also was not particularly fond of the writing style or the pacing, as it took me forever to get into the book, and then it seemed that things started happening too quickly, especially at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Outing

Minor: Cursing, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent