Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

4 reviews

tungstenmouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

Certain sentences haven’t aged well but this was excellent. I’m very sad but also very happy I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Dementia, Racism, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Ableism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Excrement, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Incest, Homophobia, Medical content, and Misogyny

It’s an older book so expect language and character attitudes that are not okay now.

mirandyli's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I can see how this book was considered ahead of its time when it was written. There are still many themes that resonate today, even though the language is antiquated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Child abuse, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia

krystalgaia's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

Very reflective, introspective, and I very much enjoyed it. I have filled this book with a lot of paper flags -- that's my own way of knowing that I enjoyed a book.

I loved the writing style: how, regardless of where Charlie was on the intellectual spectrum, it remained true to itself, always straightforward and undecorated, which provokes thought in a way that words packaged in an excess of metaphors can never do. I also loved how everything looped back to how things were in the beginning — but somehow, simultaneously, worse.

It reminds me of a passage in A Little Life, which goes, "x will always be equal to x, no matter what he does." It's just amazing that these two novels, written more than fifty years apart, were able to reflect on the human experience in almost the same way, as if proving that the only other thing constant in the world aside from change is our humanity.

I couldn't give this a full five stars, because some parts were slow and repetitive that I was tempted to put this down for another book. But after the midpoint mark, things were well-paced again and the tension was handled with great care, but it was also after the midpoint mark that I saw how poorly portrayed Alice and Fay were. It was either a goddess or a manic pixie dream girl. Rose and Norma are debatable, though; their strengths and flaws are beyond the confines of gender.

I would've given this 4.9 stars, so I'll just leave the highest rating I can give on this site.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Homophobia and Suicidal thoughts

sygritte's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Violence, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Bullying

Minor: Homophobia