Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry

58 reviews

danileah07's review

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Transphobia, Abandonment, Deadnaming, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit

rorireads_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

As a book, Orpheus Girl is engineered to make queer people cry. And, I’ll admit, I did. 

I appreciated a lot of things about this book. The length meant it was quick to get through, and I fully believe I couldn’t have read any more. 

The writing was exquisite. I connected with down-to-earth Raya and her simple narration style. A story like this being encased within purple prose would have only deterred me, and covered up the incredibly important subject matter. 

However, this book presented this very black and white idea of queerness- gay, trans, or lesbian. And the one and only trans character we meet is a ‘scapegoat’ (I use that VERY LOOSELY) and is used to further the characters into their journeys.

All of the characters, in the time we knew them, felt very boiled down to their identities, which, in a way may be the point, but… I don’t know but characterisation could have been handled better.

All in all, Orpheus Girl is a deeply impactful story, and one that is wholly necessary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Deadnaming, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Abandonment

asiamd's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

This book was short but I feel it did a great job of depicting the horrors of conversion therapy while also giving the readers hope for the main characters. I also loved the voice of the main character because it felt like I was with her experiencing these things with her and rooting for her to not give up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Torture, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Deadnaming, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Transphobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, and Suicide attempt

qcupquake's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Orpheus Girl
4.75/5

- wow. just wow.
- MAJOR TW for homophobia and transphobia bc oh my god
- i went into this thinking it wasn't gonna be that bad but as a queer kid with religious truama, that hit HARD.
- although i'm not a lesbian, i could definitely relate raya's experiences with hiding and religion to my own experiences such as being afraid of fire and brimstone.
- very quick read (although i procrastinated a lot)
- definitely not for the faint of heart bc this is gut-wrenching

- i hope sarah and raya got to new york and found a new life. they deserve it

- something is stopping me from making this 5 stars but i don't know what
- overall an amazing and heartbreaking book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Transphobia, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Deadnaming, Abandonment, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Vomit

angel_kiiss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

super disturbing but with a happy ending (question mark?)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Outing, Suicide, Medical trauma, Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Torture, Transphobia, Child death, Child abuse, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Car accident

_meganno's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia and Homophobia

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Transphobia, and Vomit

trashboatwinter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Outing, Physical abuse, Self harm, Transphobia, and Deadnaming

juliasbooklife's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

I don’t want to rate this because it is about conversion therapy, which is horrible and I don’t want to undermine the book by rating it.

I will say that it taught me more about what it’s like to be a lesbian in a small tight knit conservative town and the fear that comes with it. It also discussed some of the horrors of conversion therapy. 

I will say that a lot of the writing itself was confusing and choppy but I don’t want to focus on that because of the importance of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Torture, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

leah_dawn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Hate crime, Outing, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Torture, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Lesbophobia

genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.0

This was an extremely intriguing novel. It definitely delves into sensitive subject matter and deals with severe homophobia, so approach it with caution if that’s triggering for you, but it’s also eye opening and inspirational.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Torture, Abandonment, Lesbophobia, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Outing, Physical abuse, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Self harm, Violence, Deadnaming, Medical content, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Hate crime, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Cursing, and Sexism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Child abuse