Reviews tagging Racial slurs

Homie, by Danez Smith

8 reviews

brittney_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Listen to the audiobook, as it is read by the author. They did a phenomenal job; very moving pieces 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia

yellow_star's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

Overall this book is basically Angry Poems, and an aggressive theme. But most of it is fair. Like the line "poeming some men's hands off,  they know what they did" (paraphrase not exact words) is aggressive but fair. There is a poem in the beginning about a whole group beating one kid up though so maybe don't have young kids read this. 

There's also themes of racism, bigotry, etc. There are also the  related slurs. 

The nature poems are so fresh! I love the completely new to me imagery for nature.

The poverty poems are also completely relatable. 

I'm not a huge fan of poems that jump all over the place like a lot of modern literary poetry does, but each poem is usually about some topic and mostly continues the same conversation. There's still a little bit of chaotic unrelated subject changes but very little. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Physical abuse, Body horror, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Blood, Gore, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Violence, Classism, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Death, and Slavery

rlgreen91's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

What a gorgeous, gorgeous collection of poems.  A dear friend gave this to me for Christmas, and since I had a bit of time between book club selections, I decided to pick it up, with goal of reading a poem a day. I went into it with no expectations, which was a great idea. I was pleasantly surprised and thrilled by the many ways Smith conveyed and depicted friendship and community and grief in the poems.  If I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be "acknowledgements," and "self-portrait as '90s R&B video" was the most fun to read out loud.

Revisiting "fall poem" on this Sunday October evening is the best way to cap off this collection.  I'm already looked forward to the next thing I read by Smith. 5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Cursing

Moderate: Death, Police brutality, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide, and Sexual content

Minor: Death of parent and Medical content

courtneyfalling's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective fast-paced

4.0

I saw Danez Smith perform at my college a couple years ago, a set that included some of these poems, so I think that's at least part of why I can hear these poems while reading! They have such an imaginative and even playful conversational tone while also exploring with such care and thoughtfulness very emotional issues. I just really love their poetic style and this collection.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia and Mental illness

khakipantsofsex's review against another edition

challenging reflective

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual assault, Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Homophobia

mxpringle's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Self harm, Mental illness, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Police brutality

Minor: Slavery, Violence, Drug use, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, and Blood

rather_b_reading's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.0

Smith has a way with words. I am glad that I listened to the audiobook as I got a lot more out of the poet performing his poems. They are full of allusions, current events, and personal stories and demonstrate the power of poetry. Language warning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, and Cursing

Moderate: Addiction, Dysphoria, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Suicide

apevi's review

challenging emotional funny reflective

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Violence

Quite a lot of references to race related violence and the use of the n-word.