You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
lilyheron 's review for:
Ziggy, Stardust and Me
by James Brandon
It's 1973, and seventeen-year-old Jonathan has been in electro-convulsive therapy for the mental illness of homosexuality for four years. When he meets Web, Jonathan can't help but begin to think there might not be anything wrong with him after all, despite the fact that just thinking about Web physically hurts.
An incredibly upsetting book, like... I can't bear to think of thirteen-year-olds being subjected to ECT for having been kissed by a boy. On the one hand, this is obviously an important part of recent history that I personally hadn't read anything about before. But the way it's explored in this novel really feels too brutally dark for the genre and target audience. To me, Jonathan's character arc felt drawn out for a long time, then the ending feels rushed and out of the blue. In general I found the 'whambamthankyouma'am' 70s inner dialogue so off-putting in style, and while reading I was uncomfortable with an author who isn't Native American employing racist language and explaining all about what it means to be Two-Spirit.
Content warnings: conversion therapy; racism; slurs; homophobia; homophobic and racist violence; sexual assault
An incredibly upsetting book, like... I can't bear to think of thirteen-year-olds being subjected to ECT for having been kissed by a boy. On the one hand, this is obviously an important part of recent history that I personally hadn't read anything about before. But the way it's explored in this novel really feels too brutally dark for the genre and target audience. To me, Jonathan's character arc felt drawn out for a long time, then the ending feels rushed and out of the blue. In general I found the 'whambamthankyouma'am' 70s inner dialogue so off-putting in style, and while reading I was uncomfortable with an author who isn't Native American employing racist language and explaining all about what it means to be Two-Spirit.
Content warnings: conversion therapy; racism; slurs; homophobia; homophobic and racist violence; sexual assault