Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Fraternity by Andy Mientus

15 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

smack_books's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol

meg_thebrave's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful inspiring 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

This is a spectacular debut, a really beautiful story. I loved these characters and I love how Mientus wove real queer history into the pages of this story. It’s a slow start, but pays off breathtakingly. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer and Blood

courtknee__vn's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

This book kept me so hooked! It was definitely a difficult read at times because it deals with some really difficult topics including homophobia, death, bullying, racism, and abuse to name a few. I loved the dark academia setting, it was especially perfect for this time of year! At first, I honestly thought this was set in college because the characters just seem older than 15-16 but it didn’t deter from the YA aspect. I loved the audiobook, it had multiple narrators so it made it easy to distinguish between the 3 povs! I also really liked all 3 of the main characters and being in each of their heads was such a different experience but helped really round out the story! Overall, I just really enjoyed this one and definitely recommend!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

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

zpitts's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

Moderate: Racism and Blood

hollydunndesign's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia and Racism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Biphobia

bookishpriest's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Moderate: Transphobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Outing, and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Classism