Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

24 reviews

julietthague's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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

some families carry survival in their genes like others carry beauty. violet larkins family is one of them. after her brother sam's failed su!c!de attempt, violet gets sent to lyric, maine, the town founded by her very own great(x3)-grandmother, fidelia, after she was the sole survivor of a shipwreck. her involuntary exile not only brings violet to complate her ancestors‘ and own family history, but also marks the beginning of a journey of a wreckhunt, of growing and of healing.


this book. where do i even begin. it broke my heart and healed them in all the right places because it resonated with me so much. the writing was so simple yet beautifully poetic, i feel like i annotated and underlined every third sentence.
everything about this was perfect.
the family history, the incredible friendship dynamics, the complicated yet intricate, slow and beautiful development of a wlw relationship, the trauma, the sibling bond, the oldest daughter guilt, the healing, the pain.
this book has such a special place in my heart from now on!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Minor: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

lilifane's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I had a totally different idea about the plot of this book. I might have mixed it up with something else and since I don't read synopses, I was really surprised what this book was actually about. And pleasantly surprised even because it has so many things I love to read about. 
A small coastal town, family history, mystery and adventure, a treasure hunt, sibling dynamics, a friends group, LGBTQIA representation. And I really really enjoyed the majority o the book. The main character went through some hard hitting things and made some questionable decisions, but I still enjoyed reading from her perspective. 
I was disappointed by the last quarter of the book, though. The plot didn't really progress, and then it was suddenly over, but the ending took half an eternity to conclude. Weird pacing and I get the focus was on some important topics, but still, the rest was just forgotten somehow. 
But yeah, still liked and enjoyed the majority and the atmosphere was perfect for a summer read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Homophobia, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

brookey8888's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

I just don’t think this book was for me. I can see why a lot of people like this and I did like the topics discussed, but that being said I didn’t love it. I thought the characters were honestly annoying and the  “quirky” style of character was too much for me. As for the romance I thought it was cute, but I honestly didn’t like how they tried their friend(also violet totally had feeling for him, but that just disappeared). I also wish that we got to see more of Sam and violet and their relationship develop and grow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Biphobia, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, and Classism

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.75

The writing in this was beautiful, and I love the bi/pan rep! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Outing

Drowning

moodreaderlesbian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I saw this book on booktok and have been so eager to read it ever since. I'm happy to report that it lived up to my expectations, such a great read. Lovable characters, gripping plot, sapphic girlies. What else could you need?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Homophobia, Blood, Vomit, and Grief

georgiak15's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia

bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was a really good contemporary YA book and a really bizarre take on Twelfth Night. I’ll start with the first bit.

The Last True Poets of the Sea is a book about grief. It’s about history. It’s about trauma. It’s about how people carry those things with them from generation to generation. It has some beautifully complicated and at times tragic sibling relationships. It has a teen sapphic romance that feels realistic for the characters and where they are in their lives.

It also has most of the things that one might expect from a Twelfth Night retelling: A love triangle, a shipwreck, a character named Toby, twins…

But all of those parts of the story are remixed to a degree that didn’t really make sense to me. The shipwreck and the twins (and the gender stuff) are in the past. The love triangle is completely different because Violet falls for Liv first and Orion is for some reason straight. Toby is Violet’s uncle rather than Liv’s. Most of the subplots are cut completely, which makes sense but was still sad (well, I didn’t really miss Malvolio, but I wanted a proper Sir Andrew character, goddammit!). 

The book still works despite these changes to the source material, and they were obviously make deliberately. They just bugged me as a fan of the original play who enjoys seeing new takes on it.

I also have a couple little nitpicks:

Liv refers to herself and Violet as anagrams. This makes sense thematically, but the names Violet and Olivia are NOT anagrams. This was very confusing because the author could have actually given them names that used all of the same letters!

Also, this is a very white book. It makes sense because it’s set in small-town Maine—maybe the whitest part of the US—but why was Violet always remarking on the fact that random side characters were white people when she and all the other characters were also white people? Very odd.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia

averyrembish's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Medical content, Outing, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Drug use, Homophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

aiyam's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. Drake’s take on the meaning of grief, how it affects life and what we’re meant to do with it hit me hard. I’m obsessed with this author and I can’t wait to see what she does next. 

Violet is the new love of my life. Reformed party girl trying to atone for her sins and work her way out of the disaster her brother has created for their family is my new favorite kind of girl. She is such a genuine person who feels all her emotions so strongly, I ached when she expressed herself, I felt her words as strongly as she did. 

All the people she meets in Lyric are amazing. They’re funny and quirky and the perfect mix of side character while having their own lives off page. Liv Stone might be my second favorite character in the book, surprise surprise. She’s just so interesting and sweet and I can so see why Violet falls for her. 

All in all, the writing is gorgeous and the plot is heartbreaking in the best way. Such a great debut, can’t wait to see more from this author. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt