Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

O Quarto de Giovanni by James Baldwin, Paulo Henriques Britto

43 reviews

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Death, Homophobia, and Infidelity

Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Bullying, Classism, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Blood, Child death, and Pregnancy

Not sure how to tag it, but whether it's a reflection of the author's biases or an extension of the book's core themes, this book has a lot of negativity toward effeminate/GNC gay men.

andsoitgoes's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

3.0

I can see why this is a classic as the writing is artistic, and the emotions extracted by the subject matter are intense. However, the pace of the novel was not for me (very slow) and all of the characters seems a little more stereotypical than realistic. Not my cup of tea, but if you like emotionally intense books with an aura of mystery you'd probably like it. Please read trigger warnings before reading!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia

ashleyann's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death

Minor: Alcohol, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts

mynameisrebecca's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Misogyny

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Xenophobia and Emotional abuse

jeremie's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Murder

thomasdj's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcoholism

inesmts's review against another edition

sad tense slow-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

4.0

Giovanni’s Room is a pure tragedy story. Two men who quite quickly develop an intense and very dependent relationship, that does not transcribe as love at all. David, our narrator, is extremely repressed and very selfish. He doesn’t even let himself feel his own emotions, and instead resents others for it. As for Giovanni, he is but a victim of David’s fantasies an desires. It was for him that I felt the most. Giovanni was truly just played by everyone he encountered - and lost in what others wanted of him. 

The one thing I couldn’t really get along with, in this book, was with its depiction of women. The characters showed no respect to women, laughed about misogynistic jokes and that’s something that always puts me off the most when I read about a love story between two men - authors always seem to want to compare the two very different relationship dynamics. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Suicidal thoughts

ocean's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying and Violence

li_reading's review against another edition

4.0

It was very good, and absolutely wretched

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, and Homophobia

Moderate: Classism, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Alcoholism

lucykateburns's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Homophobia, Death, Sexism, Sexual content, and Self harm

Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship