Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones

3 reviews

mirandalikesbooks's review

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

3.5

I've never read a memoir of someone who isn't a well-known public figure. It was interesting learning his story at this personal level of introspection.

I would read this if you're interested in the impact your family has on your identity; the intersectionality of being gay, black, and poor; or the struggle of figuring out how to act when the world is telling you to be someone else.

I guess I finished the book hoping for more resolution - why did his mom act cagey when he came out? How will he approach his relationship with his grandma? Will he learn how to be happy with himself and live authentically instead of approaching life the selfish and guarded way he approached his college years?

Overall a decent read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, and Drug use

Minor: Animal death

decie's review

challenging emotional medium-paced

4.25

"I wish I had known that really, this was always how it was going to play out for the two of us one way or another precisely because my grandmother loved - loves - me. She tightened her grip until it became so painful that I had no choice but to yank myself free. 
People don't just happen. We sacrifice former versions of ourselves. We sacrifice the people who dared to raise us. The 'I', it seems, doesn't exist until we are able to say, 'I am no longer yours.'"

"And then I did exactly what I thought all people who love each other do: I changed the subject. I changed myself. I erased everything I had just said. I erased myself so I could be her son again."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, and Adult/minor relationship

amerikanerin's review

sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Death, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Adult/minor relationship, and Homophobia