Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

O Quarto de Giovanni by James Baldwin, Paulo Henriques Britto

132 reviews

jaiari12's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Murder, and Alcohol

iheartapolloxxi's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Baldwin‘s effability to describe such a tumultuous relationship is admirable. The reader is put on the front lines of David‘s conflict-driven reality. The use of Giovanni‘s room as a metaphor for their doomed-from-the-start relationship is brilliant and truly could have only been pulled off by a legend like Baldwin. Amazing book, taught me a lot. Everyone should read this at least once in their lives. 💯

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

kers_tin's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

fleen's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Misogyny

leabhar_love's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Miscarriage and Murder

miller8d's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I like James Baldwin’s poetic language and poignant emotional description but

I found the ending of this book quite disappointing and I really wish there had been more plot to this book. It felt like nothing really happened in comparison to how much of the book was spent explaining— it was a lot of telling and not a lot of showing, which isn’t bad, it’s just not my preference. James Baldwin is incredible and brilliant and this book is historically significant, but I did not enjoy it very much.

Note: I pictured James Baldwin as Giovanni, and Hugh Dennis as Jacques.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

pyronautphea's review against another edition

dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Minor: Miscarriage

kydnmthws's review against another edition

4.5

"I move at last from the mirror and begin to cover that nakedness which I must hold scared, though it be never so vile, which must be scoured perpetually with the salt of my life. I must believe, that the heavy grace of God, which has brought me to this place, is all that can carry me out of it."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexism

purplehulk713's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.25

This book only truly interested me at the very end when Giovanni is calling David out on all his bullshit. It felt so much like what people consider “literature” otherwise—clever and well-thought-out, but too dense and tedious to read to be of any real enjoyment to anyone who’s not an English scholar (and I’m speaking as university writing minor). But as a landmark in queer fiction, it does deserve praise. I just wish that it  didn’t make me want so much for it to be over while reading more than it made me enjoy its poetic prose and insights (David is so frustrating, and Jacques and Guillaume are disgusting). But facing the sincerity embodied in Giovanni’s room was a truly tantalizing subject.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

onmalsshelf's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Some of the best writing I’ve ever read in a classic, but with the most insufferable cast of characters. Oi with the misogyny already 

Also The Atlantic lied in their blurb, ‘Exciting…a book that belongs in the top rank of fiction’

Exciting? Where?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death of parent, Outing, Alcohol, and Classism