Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts by Soraya Palmer

13 reviews

annie26's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Can’t believe I’m only just reading my first Caribbean-authored story of the year and this one didn’t disappoint. In the vein of When We Were Birds, it mixes Caribbean superstition and folklore with ah exploration of family life, of gender, of what it means to be a woman. I loved the supernatural element of this story and what it teaches you about Jamaican-Trinidadian culture and history. A 4 star read for me. Thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Death, Chronic illness, and Grief

nini23's review against another edition

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

3.25

The opening is smashing and I like the cheeky cynical omniscient narrator. However, this novel reads young and the narrative unravels about two-thirds in. The folklore of Anansi, Dglo, the Rolling Calf, soucouyant and douen intertwine to make sense of life for a pair of American sisters with Jamaican Trinidadian heritage growing up in a chaotic household. Their home life is marred by domestic violence and infidelity by their father Nigel on their mother Beatrice.  The narrator from Anansi Stories promises to make us not hate the father by telling us more backstory. I still dislike Nigel for abandoning his first family and mother.

Let's talk about mothers. Being lgtb or a blocked young writer does not give teens an excuse to not be there for your mother.

Especially if she is terminally ill with cancer and wants to spend more time with you

Teenage angst does not eclipse everything. A lot of dramatics with little substance. The daughters weren't there to support their mother, the sisters didn't prop each other up, I am really not sure where the empowerment is.

There are a substantial number of lgtb characters - Harold (Nigel's brother is homosexual {his death still doesn't explain why Nigel is an ass}), Beatrice (I'm guessing she's bisexual or the lesbian part was beaten out of her by her mother), Sasha (lesbian or trans, unclear), Shay (trans)

I like the anti-colonial points made. That scene at the Jamaican restaurant is electric! 👍to the Trinidadian English dialogue.

Overall, I much prefer When We Were Birds by
Ayanna Lloyd Banwo. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Rape, Transphobia, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Cancer, Colonisation, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Racism

d0505's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Body horror

Moderate: Colonisation