Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

This Is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves

8 reviews

its_vendetta's review against another edition

emotional inspiring lighthearted 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

4.75

Ugh this book was so good i’m so upset that it’s over!! This book hit me in ways others didn’t. Enrique‘s descriptions of his mental health and his insecurities surrounding himself in comparison to other queer people around him is so relatable it hurts. The discussion around biphobia was especially personal to me as well, and was done perfectly. 
All the side characters were so incredibly well written!! I had an emotional attachment to everyone in this book and I honestly did not know how this book would end, which I loved!
Overall this is an amazing and touching novel that dives into issues surrounding queer communities, racism, religious bigotry, and so many more topics that need to be more discussed in our society.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Hate crime, Violence, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Islamophobia

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, and Drug use

the f slur is used quite often in the book. it’s used both from queer people and from non queer people in a derogatory context

fareehareads's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.5

There are a combination of reasons why this book didn't particularly work for me, but it might just be your next favorite read so take all that I say with a grain of salt!
I've been on a contemporary YA romance kick recently (its a prerequisite that it must be gay) and this one jumped out when I saw there would be queer Muslim rep written by a non Muslim author. But first the premise, this is a story following a bisexual latino teen named Enrique who is trying desperately to get over his feelings for the Muslim boy in his life by quite literally entangling himself with other boys to get over a Palestinian boy named Saleem. It fails miserably or (without spoiling too much) wonderfully.
Saleem is literally the the first time I've encountered this type of representation. As a queer Muslim familiar with people's harsh expectations and general opinions of queer Muslims (from straight and queer people alike) I picked it up. Unfortunately, Saleem is really not the main focus of this book since he's off the page and mostly just idealized in Enrique's mind, but throughout this book I realized that I was starved for something in the perspective of a Saleem (will be picking up some other books for further reading)

But back to Enrique's story. A lot of it was hard to read since I am not the target audience and so the cringe I felt was akin to the therapist's horror when

Quique told her about his encounter with his high school teacher and she was initially horrified. That initial feeling? Yeah it was with me whenever he did something spectacularly dumb.

or when there was just a lot of descriptions of how much he saw every single person he interacted with in terms of their desirability or his attraction to them (my ace brain could not comprehend this at all). But I kept reading because there was a creeping sadness and fear that I've noticed at the center of a lot of young adult queer stories. Kids like this deserve to see themselves on a page. If it feels like a mirror to read something like this, then this author achieved a great thing by publishing this for the world to read. I really believe in the power of a queer story, no matter the writing, no matter the mess, these stories take hold and stick with people for a long time. 

The third act of the book is what fell flat for me honestly. I had hoped there would be a moment for Saleem to be the one to drag Enrique out of his fantasy world of infatuation & desire and into the real world of fumbling words and bold unwavering trust (their lines to each other at the end were very sweet). It would have made his character more well rounded if he had a few more scenes or if he disrupted Enrique when he least expected it. But I digress. As far as the representation goes, I think his character was pretty well written with a few notes that are nitpicky and not serious oversights. I can't speak to how a queer Palestinian person would feel reading this of course, I can only speak to the Muslim aspect, but for me it worked. I wanted him to be more, but I'm happy with where it ended. 

It would have been 4 stars if the reading experience was more positive for me, so I'll leave it at 3.5. I really do recommend it though! There's something in these queer books for everyone in my opinion and I have no regrets taking this ride.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Biphobia and Toxic friendship

xandry's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Violence, and Hate crime

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Mass/school shootings, and Religious bigotry

maple_dove's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.25

This book was not what I expected but it didn't disappoint!

I loved the discussions of religious bigotry, and the LGBTQ community and religion. It's a difficult topic to navigate, but I think this book handled it well. 
As an asexual person, I didn't expect this book to be so sexually graphic (mostly in terms of dialogue and thoughts), but I'm glad. We need to let teenagers explore their sexuality, too (safely). 
I can't say the bipolar disorder rep was accurate, as I'm not bipolar myself and don't know enough to say. Speaking of which, I loved all the representation in this book!: Bisexual, Mexican-American, Afro-Latina American, Latino-American, Arab Palestinian-American, and Gay characters can all be found in this book. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Sexual content, Alcohol, Racism, Biphobia, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Medical content, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Islamophobia, Murder, War, Ableism, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

Homophobic slurs (Graphic), Underage drinking (Graphic), Teenage pregnancy (Minor)

lim's review

slow-paced

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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Biphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Outing

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Sexualizing underage characters, biphobic stereotypes, Christian supremacist undertones, pro traditional marriage message.

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Mental illness

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Ableism, Biphobia, Islamophobia, Vomit, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Excrement, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Grief, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pedophilia

patricktreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book was everything. It gave me “They Both Die” vibes without both of them dying. That intensity was there and the pain was definitely felt, but also the joy. I also loved that we had the middle eastern representation. You don’t get to see that a lot in LGBTQ+ stories. 

It should definitely have content warnings in it though because some of the topics can get very dark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Racism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

tifcochran's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

This book is marketed as a "Fun, Irrelevant Summer Romp", and i feel like the marketing team did not read this book. Though this is a book that takes place during summer and it is full of funny moments at times, i would not place this in the "romp" category. To me, it seems this book was marketed as a fully light hearted novel, where it does have very dark and emotional scenes. 

Enrique "Quique” is a young, bi, high schooler who is trying to spend his summer meeting potential romantic prospects and getting over his crush he has on his best friend Saleem, while Saleem is away for a family Vacation. 

Quique is an emotional mess, he struggles with anxiety and depression, he has low self esteem, and though in better understanding himself and his sexuality. The Way that Quique and side characters explore and communicate about their sexuality is refreshing and honest. Though, this book does have some sensitive teacher-student relationship that happens. It is handled well, and thoughtfully. 

This book strikes a mix of funny and uncomfortable moments, that we all had growing up in high school and trying to understand who we are, who we love, and how we fit into our world. This is very much an Upper YA novel, with some mild sexual content throughout. When I was in High School, i wish there were more books like this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Alcohol, Biphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Racism

Minor: Racial slurs