Reviews with content warning for Lesbophobia - Orpheus Girl

Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry

57 reviews

entre_paginas_infinitas's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed some parts of this books. The things people do to the characters are atrocious, and I felt sad at some point. Raya was left alone in many ways. Thinking that this had happened in rea life makes me sadder.

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dopestitches's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense

3.5

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teniamonet's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

“You were supposed to be my second chance”

This was such a heart wrenching and emotional listen that left me with a heavy feeling in my chest. Orpheus Girl is supposed to be a modern retelling of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. I don’t think there’s any real comparison here but Raya’s obsession with Greek mythology was definitely a way for her to cope with her life.

A great listen and I loved the story. While this was fictional, this is a reality for a lot of queer kids. I would recommend this to others to read, but would warn them it can be extremely heavy and triggering.

The “treatments” were so inhumane and I had to stop listening at times. The fact that Raya was completely losing herself down to the connection she was trying to keep to the mother who abandoned her.

Timeline does get a little funky, but I attribute that to the fact that Raya is the narrator and through being at this conversion camp and all the treatments she loses herself and her grasp on reality.

“You know, the thing about family is that you can choose it. And I choose you.”

Cried at the end of this.

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apollo0325's review

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

With every action they make to take away your rights, they adopt an air of phony shame, as if they actually cared about the consequences of their beliefs.

This book was absolutely heart-wrenching, and the fact it was/is the reality of queer kids is even worse. Despite the best efforts, people still think queers are an illness, something that can be ‘cured’ when this is who we are. So many drape their homophobia with religion too.

This book is H E A V Y and even so, it’s an understatement. It’s important but difficult and necessary to have queer books centered on subject matter like this. Every queer story doesn’t end in a happily ever after.

Framing it within Greek mythology adds another layer of interest and way to connect to Raya’s journey. It also felt like a coping mechanism for Raya which is a common trend among queers (shout out to my PJO queers, ayyy).

My only critique of this book is the lack of understanding of time passing. It feels like SO MUCH has happened but then Raya mentions being dropped off four days ago? It felt a bit unclear. Then again, this may have been an intentional choice by the author to show even Raya has no concept of time and self in the latter half of the book.

Lastly, I implore anyone wanting to read this book to PLEASE LOOK AT TRIGGER WARNINGS. This book does not fuck around. For real.

“You know, the thing about family is that you can choose it. And I choose you.”

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thatchickengirl23's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

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maisiemoo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

3.25

This was the heaviest book I’ve ever read and I think it’s going to take a while to leave me.

This book succeeds in portraying the horrifying reality of conversion therapy and made me feel so appreciative of the support network I’ve had since coming out, because not everyone is that fortunate.

I really thought that there would be more parallels to mythology in terms of the plot. I felt like the metaphors could have been taken further, but that’s just my personal opinion.

At some points I found Raya’s recollection of her childhood quite repetitive. I felt like, although she was telling different stories, they all ended with the same point about her grandmother not wanting her and her feeling inadequate. Personally, I found these snippets of her past didn’t really add much to the narrative.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style of the author, but I found the overall plot very hard-hitting. It was a difficult read, and I’d urge people to take care when reading.

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