Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Before the Devil Breaks You, by Libba Bray

14 reviews

annieliz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Homophobia

heather_freshparchment's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Classism, Racial slurs, Death, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Moderate: War, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia

Minor: Suicide attempt

overbooked207's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Medical content, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexism, Medical trauma, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Racism, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Violence

readwithsuzanna's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Ableism, Racism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Xenophobia

nienke's review

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Death, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Rape

bookswithjess's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Rape

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, and Violence

larareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, and Xenophobia

peytonktracy's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

So this installment of The Diviners series was a bit of a slog to get through but only because the already large cast started getting a lot more individual attention in their growth arcs and personal narratives in addition to really hitting the pavement towards the climax of the overarching plot against the Biggest Baddest Villain behind all the smaller, Still Bad But Not That Bad Villains. It's a lot to pay attention to - I think we had something like 14 characters who we got perspectives from at multiple points throughout the narrative, not including the four-ish camps of villains. It was a lot to keep track of, but it does lend itself to a very interesting vision of the main plot and the interactions between the characters because you get such comprehensive perspectives of everything and everyone. And I will also say, the characters are beautifully diverse in every way - a variety of races, sexualities, religious backgrounds, disabilities, socio-economic statuses, citizenship status, belief systems, attitudes towards institutions in this country, even ages. And that has always been appreciated in this series.

But the bulk of the marks against this book was how much I wished for some content warnings. This book took a turn for the serious (not that it hasn't always been serious) but several caught me completely off guard in vulnerable moments because they came with so little warning and one in particular put me off continuing this book for a month or so. And at the end

Spoiler

Bray decided to go all George R. R. Martin/J. K. Rowling in Deathly Hallows on us and just murder like four people in the span of a few chapters that was a little surprising and unexpected.

Not that I think that writing choice was a problem or problematic but it was tonally inconsistent with where the book had been and so was just pretty surprising. 

All this to say though, I've already checked out and started the final installment and had no qualms about doing so. I'm ready to GO.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Colonisation, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, and Rape

Minor: Homophobia and Slavery

emilyplun's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Police brutality

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Slavery

genny's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

Whew, okay, how do I review this one? It was much more somber than I anticipated. This time there's no big mystery at the forefront, so while I'm glad we're finally seeing more of the whole "King of Crows" business, I feel like this lacked the structure (and whimsy) of the first two books. The revelations about Project Buffalo felt like a punch to the gut, and my opinions about certain characters went through a rollercoaster (looking at you, Bill Johnson!).

In other words: this hurt my heart. I loved that we finally got to see more of Mabel's perspective, though this did feel detached from the rest of the story. Her struggle with morality as she fights the good fight? How she both missed and resented Evie, and all that she represented? So good. I'm a little bitter that we won't see how she could've reconciled these inner conflicts.

Spoiler

Because, if you clicked on this and thus aren't afraid of spoilers, she dies. Holding the hand of a person who, for all his faults, really did love her. Again: ow, my heart. Bray just straight up killed main characters in the last 10% of the book, damn!

I don't even know how to feel about Jericho anymore (do read the content warnings...). That's not to say that everything's doom and gloom! We still get plenty of humor and the beautiful friendships between the cast (and Theta being a badass). As always, Sam's romance with Evie was a personal highlight.

I listened to the audiobook - amazing voice work, as expected. I will likely reread the entire series in print one day. I'm a bit scared of book 4 because I've heard its the weakest, and that's never a good thing to hear about a series' conclusion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Police brutality, and Racism

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Homophobia

Eugenics is discussed multiple times, with proponents advocating for racist, homophobic, and ableist beliefs. A character gets threatening messages from their abuser, who eventually tracks them down and acts controlling/threatening. Two female characters are forcefully kissed; one scene is more graphic, as the woman is attacked and held down. The diviners visit an asylum; some patients are there willingly, some aren't. A character shares that their mother suffered from a mental illness. Another character reminisces about their mother dying from cancer.