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A review by iellv
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
I took my sweet time with this because I couldn’t get past the first chapter without crying and wanting to wail. Not to be dramatic but I was punched and kicked in the gut several times and by the end I was utterly devastated, scrubbed raw, and terrified for my own life. I unfortunately resonated with David’s character to such an uncomfortable degree that I had to take several breaks reading this (although I did do a lot of research on James Baldwin’s activism in the interim. He is a magnificent writer and orator).
I cannot stress how much I hated reading Giovanni’s Room /pos and now I am obsessed with James Baldwin’s writing and I am so excited to read his other works—ESPECIALLY HIS ESSAYS. TO ME, PERSONALLY, this book was like a free therapy session that came with a very alarming liability waiver.
I cannot stress how much I hated reading Giovanni’s Room /pos and now I am obsessed with James Baldwin’s writing and I am so excited to read his other works—ESPECIALLY HIS ESSAYS. TO ME, PERSONALLY, this book was like a free therapy session that came with a very alarming liability waiver.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Misogyny