Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian

35 reviews

19becky97's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer

morganphoenix's review

emotional sad fast-paced

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Homophobia

rekimmel's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

brynngaybee's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.75

I really enjoyed this book. Historical young adult is a super interesting niche genre and this book is a great example. The characters were very strong and well defined if annoying at times. Characters personal flaws were well countered by others and they were given great opportunities to grow. Some conflicts were fairly contrived, but lots of teen conflicts in real life are terribly contrived as well, so fair enough. The diversity was great and this book is great to introduce teenagers to the time period of the aids crisis as it depicts activism fairly well and helps explain the cultural context surrounding the book. I loved the ending and how it subverted a lot of teen tropes and gave us a glimpse into the future of these characters. I was deeply engaged for the entire book and would recommend it to anyway interested in queer ya fiction. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Grief

Minor: Fatphobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and Alcohol

postal_kat's review

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Bullying and Fatphobia

Minor: Racism, Sexual content, Violence, and Xenophobia

tahsintries's review

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Homophobia, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Violence, and Excrement

Minor: Alcoholism and Racism

hannahmayhere's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

This is such an important book. A perspective of teens growing up during the height of the AIDS crisis and the impact that had on them is something I haven’t had the opportunity to read before and I’m so grateful I now have. 

*explanation content warning on aphobia* one character does say a few times some aphobic lines ( sex is needed for a relationship, sex is ultimate goal of all relationships,  everyone wants it, etc.) and it goes unchallenged because they are the character’s thoughts. Part of this could be explained as he is a high schooler grappling with fear due to the AIDS epidemic but it still read as invalidating. So just a warning to fellow aces!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Ableism, Mass/school shootings, and Acephobia/Arophobia

tinana's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Minor: Racial slurs, Violence, Xenophobia, and Vomit

lexa's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

A beautiful, breathtaking story of love in all forms. The love of friends, first love, romantic love, family love, community love, self love, and of course love of Madonna. But it is also so much more. It is a lesson in how far we've come in some ways and how far we still have to go in others. From the Author's Note: "This book is an ode to the heroes and heroines of the AIDS movement, activists who saved lives". 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Fatphobia, Racism, Excrement, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, and Medical trauma

hmatt's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

What a great read. The writing strikes that perfect balance where it's both appropriate for YA but not too simplified. There's just the right amount of focus each on family/friendships/romance for a coming-of-age novel. I also felt like it did a great job at being didactic without being preachy re: sex ed, queer history & culture, intersectional privilege, etc.

Where I had a small issue was with the main point of conflict - it just felt very contrived to me.

I guess I just didn't buy in that it would be such a big deal to Judy that Art had a crush on Reza, acted on before she and Reza started dating, was rejected, and then kept his distance for the duration of their relationship. It's believable that she would be upset to some degree, but the extent it went to didn't make a lot of sense to me.

I was able to look past this because the author didn't make it the only plot point. Yay, multi-dimensional storytelling.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Homophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Islamophobia, and Mass/school shootings