Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

In the Absence of Men by Philippe Besson

6 reviews

christopher_shiprack's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Death and Homophobia

o3tri's review against another edition

sad fast-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and War

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Homophobia

pigeonpersona's review against another edition

emotional relaxing sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Phillipe Besson's debut novel is a great one! I'm very glad I read this, each line is well thought out and the whole story contains beautiful prose and characterizations. This would be a great novel to just fill a day with. I'm looking forward to reading his other works.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Antisemitism

samugranjo's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book is incredibly lyrical and has a very interesting narrator choice. The story is told from a 16 years old boy, Vincent, point of view. It is also written as first person, in which Vincent alternates between talking to Marcel or Arthur. Because of this it feels very intimate to read. 

The way the author writes the thought process of a teenager seems very realistic. All the characters seem both complex enough to hold themselves up and limited since we are seeing all of them from the perspective of Vincent. 

This is mostly a coming of age story that mixes a teenager self assurance and confusion. Something that is registered when Vincent says "Is this what it means to become an adult? Giving up the beliefs which reassure us, which help us to survive?".

When it comes to thematics, it had discussions of class, war, aging, death and fearing it, grief, trauma, repression, etc.

My favorite thing about the book was for sure the writing, I underlined it intensely. In terms of characters I really appreciated the scenes between Vincent and Arthur. My favorite part was for sure the first one but the second one was quite enjoyable, and really showed me that I was able to picture the characters voices on their own. I feel like I was not a fan of the third part, I would either make it larger and better developed or take it out completely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, and War

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Better description of the 'adult/minor relationship' and 'pedophilia' tags:

The main relationship is between a 21 year old dude and a 16 year old, it is implied that the first has been in love with the second for a long time. As someone that is usually very uncomfortable with age gaps that involve underaged individuals I have to say that I was somehow okay with this one. The pedophilia tag was added for another character, a middle age guy that never actually gets with anyone romantically or sexually but expresses a desire for young boys.

hollieadaw's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

andyparr's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, and War

Minor: Homophobia and Classism