Reviews tagging 'Deadnaming'

Fraternity by Andy Mientus

11 reviews

crusoe's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

4.75

Fraternity is a messy book and at times the writing feels clumbsy but it's got so much heart that I can forgive it for that part. 

The characters are wonderful! Sometimes they're selfish, sometimes they go through very tough circumstances and the part where Zooey distances himself from his friends was hard to read, but they're also very vibrant and their friendship in the end trumps all. It's one of the reasons why I love the multiple POV's in this story. 

The connections to the historical context of its setting were also quite nice even if they played more into the story at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Deadnaming, Pedophilia, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Sexual assault and Alcohol

nosferatofu's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

No words. No notes. This is a MUST-read for queer folks. For ANYONE. I am so deeply and implausibly upset that it’s over. I am truly inconsolable after this one. Mientus tackles plenty of heavy and important topics that are still prevalent today in the pages of this book, while also managing to keep your attention and make the reading experience charming and fun following the cult-like, dark academia setting and storyline. Immaculate. Moving. Eldritch-esque. Easily earns a place in my top 5 favourite books of all time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, and Deadnaming

adamderb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Vomit

Minor: Biphobia, Deadnaming, and Death

tmledvina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I don't know how to describe how I feel about this book.

It's wholly uncomfortable at times, because it digs very deeply into the AIDS crisis of the 1980's & 90's. Because it shows the horrible and rampant racism and homophobia of the early 90's America. Because it doesn't shy away from showing the ugly truth. 

I was viscerally uncomfortable at certain plot points in this book, not because they were poorly handled, but because they were expertly done. They were meant to make you uncomfortable. 

I didn't expect that coming into this book, but god I am so glad I got it. A great read.

Only losing a .5 star because there were a few weird jumps in the narrative that felt like whiplash, but really they were easy enough to ignore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, and Outing

Moderate: Deadnaming

morgankailackerman's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

Although the pacing was weird at times, this book was amazing. When people say that fantasy is fluff, I want to show them this book. It was so meaningful, creative? And empowering. A beauitful symbol to talk about AIDS, gay identities, homophobia, and so much more. This is a book to reread over and over. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Deadnaming, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Religious bigotry

goldenlake's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Biphobia

pkc's review

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

I thought this might be a spooky witchy occult book, which it was in lots of ways, but it was also a gorgeous found family queer story set at a time when such found families were looked up derisively. The book is set in 1991, while America and the world still reels from the impact of AIDS at Blackfriars School for boys in the fictional town of Adders Lair in Massachusetts. It was a book that was shocking, scary, joyful, funny, sexy. Any superlative you can think of probably applies here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

abronstein's review

adventurous challenging dark funny reflective

• 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

I really liked this book and it would be something I'd come back to in the future. Zooey, Daniel and Leo's relationship and loyalty to each other is beautiful. I loved the style of writing and the transition between characters. I also had the opportunity to get the audiobook from the library which made the story so much better! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Murder

toxicdropz187's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

It was good, got a little crazy and unrealistic for my liking. Still great and amazing writing style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

pagesofnay's review

dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.0

Fraternity is a queer, dark academia set in the ‘90s. There is magic involved and it was such a chilling and atmospheric read.

This story was very compelling. As soon as I started the audiobook, I couldn’t turn it off. The writing was great, it flowed really well. It was a quick and easy listen. The queer history that was included in the book was enlightening. It’s mot often you read a book that brings up important social issues and queer politics from the ‘90s while being blended with fiction that is done so well.

I loved how it had multiple point of views. Each character has such a distinct narrative and it’s interesting to switch between them. The story follows Zooey, Daniel, and Leo. They are very well written and I loved their relationships with one another.

This book was quite the read and I most definitely will be rereading. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Homophobia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Vomit

Minor: Deadnaming, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault