Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Sign for Home by Blair Fell

21 reviews

carakupferman's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Sign for Home is totally unique and utterly brilliant. The main character, Arlo, is a 23-year old DeafBlind man who has been raised with a strict Jehovah’s Witness upbringing by his controlling and religious uncle. Before embarking on a mission to Ecuador, he is permitted to take a summer writing course at the local community college to improve his English writing skills, and he is introduced to a new interpreter, Cyril. Cyril is gay, a bit chaotic, and terrified at the prospect of working with a DeafBlind consumer using tactile ASL but agrees to the job with the hope that the money will finally enable him to escape Poughkeepsie. The two men develop a strong friendship and partnership as Cyril’s support helps Arlo break through the trauma and repressed memories of his past and begin to question his sheltered life. When he learns that his childhood sweetheart is still out there, he embarks on a journey to find her against all odds of inaccessibility and neglect.

The story in this book is tremendously moving, but its most unique and interesting feature is the use of voice. Cyril’s perspective is written in a classic first person narration, but Arlo’s perspective is written in second person, creating a sense of both distance and intimacy, putting you in Arlo’s head while also taking you out of the moment. I also loved the way Blair Fell translated and transliterated ASL, preserving the distinctness of ASL from English and giving his Deaf and DeafBlind characters an authentic voice. This book is so interesting and compelling. Possibly my favorite so far this year!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Bullying, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent, Cancer, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Addiction, and Alcohol

booksnteatourist's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing and Bullying

Minor: Death and Death of parent

a_manning11's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Physical abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Ableism, Death of parent, Cancer, Bullying, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

the content warning for physical abuse refers to the abysmal situation inside the nursing home

cdace8's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Alcoholism, and Bullying

laupm's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Bullying, and Forced institutionalization

purplepenning's review

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

 There's a lot going on here, and the jaunty rom-com cover doesn't capture, well, any of it really. This isn't a rom-com or a romance, though there is a romance within it. It's the coming-of-age Bildungsroman tale of Arlo Dilly, a DeafBlind college-age man under the guardianship and care of a strict Jehovah's Witness uncle and a devout JW interpreter. It's also the coming-into-focus and coming-into-courage tale of Cyril Brewster, a gay middle-age ASL interpreter with an aversion to the tactile ASL required to communicate with DeafBlind clients. Their paths cross when Arlo attends an English language class at the community college and needs a second interpreter to help with it. He chooses Cyril because Cyril follows best practices for accessibility and actually tells Arlo what's going on and being said (his longtime interpreter takes a more selective/paternalistic approach). Despite his aversion to tactile, Cyril takes the contract, hoping it will finally give him the financial cushion he needs to move on and move out of Poughkeepsie. Through the class and through Cyril's interpretations, Arlo begins to see and understand more of the world, of his family, of his friends, of himself. Cyril's own story of self-discovery runs parallel to Arlo's.

This is genuinely one of the best books I've read — in fiction or nonfiction — for introducing a reader to the world and experiences of a person who is living a very different kind of life from the reader's. The story, at times heartrending, heart-pounding, and joyous, lagged in the middle for me and some of the JW content may be difficult to read for those who have experienced controlling religious groups. The writing, however, carried me through. The author does a beautiful job of conveying the voice and experiences of these characters and it's full of information about DDBHH (Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing) communication. It also avoids, calls out, and subverts lazy tropes and stereotypes (including the savior trope) and avoids lapsing into inspiration p*rn. It is inspiring, though — it's an inspiring look at the kinds of discussions we should be having and services we should be expanding for our disabled communities. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Violence, Cancer, Confinement, Homophobia, Sexual content, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Cursing, Police brutality, and Excrement

laurenlee2158's review

funny informative sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Ableism

Minor: Alcohol and Abandonment

kimveach's review

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

I loved this book!  I wish I could find these characters and become their friend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Cancer, Homophobia, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Cultural appropriation, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, and Medical trauma

amberinpieces's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Ableism

Moderate: Medical content, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Cursing, and Grief

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, and Homophobia

bel017's review

challenging emotional 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

Arlo is DeafBlind, and sheltered in a bad way. He meets Cyril--a new (to Arlo) interpreter--when he starts a class to improve his English. Cyril teaches Arlo about his rights, and advocates for him. The blurb on GR/SG/the back of the book captures maybe the last quarter of the book. Needs a much better blurb.

I hadn't realised there was neglect, confinement and emotional abuse of a child on the page. I wouldn't have read it if I'd realised, so I skipped all those sections as best I could. Lots of fascinating, terrible and excellent information about the DeafBlind community, wrapped in a challenging but heartfelt story. By the time I realised the triggers I was in too deep and had to find out what happened.

I was shocked at how many parents of Deaf children don't learn sign language. The idea that they ... choose not to? Don't have the resources to? I don't understand. Everything was distressing.

I didn't realise this had been listed as a romance. It's not really a romance, it's a bildungsroman (coming of age story).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Ableism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

Moderate: Infidelity, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Confinement, and Terminal illness

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Cancer, Excrement, Outing, Blood, and Sexual harassment