Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

29 reviews

caramelcaylee's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Alcohol

anj's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Xenophobia

thomasina's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Gosh I love this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

Minor: Murder

miller8d's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I like James Baldwin’s poetic language and poignant emotional description but

I found the ending of this book quite disappointing and I really wish there had been more plot to this book. It felt like nothing really happened in comparison to how much of the book was spent explaining— it was a lot of telling and not a lot of showing, which isn’t bad, it’s just not my preference. James Baldwin is incredible and brilliant and this book is historically significant, but I did not enjoy it very much.

Note: I pictured James Baldwin as Giovanni, and Hugh Dennis as Jacques.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

nzmerchant's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Beautifully written study of a very flawed main character and his journey with internalised homophobia. The book kinda lost me at the 30% mark but once I powered through it, I simply could not put it down! Overall, a very miserable read with some rather transphobic parts (but I understand this is part of the character’s internal monologue?) and i really felt for the characters and the unfortunate fates they were met with. Hella deserves better - I gotta say that…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Transphobia, Violence, and Alcohol

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lizziaha's review against another edition

sad

• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.25

This is an interesting look at masculinity, and perhaps because of that, I was put off by its rather bleak view of femininity. But the innate struggle of queerness that was woven through the story was frightening familiar and tugged at my heartstrings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Suicidal thoughts

kingcrookback's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

I kept thinking about the conversation Baldwin had with Maya Angelou, where he said, in response to a question about being gay, "[...] all I know about human life is if I love you... I love you. And if I love you and duck it, I die." I've read some criticism--most of it recent and mostly from people who are too young to seriously consider what it must have been like to be gay/queer before the late '90s at the earliest--saying that Giovanni's Room contributes to the idea that gay/queer life is tragedy. I think such a viewpoint is informed by a pretty severe misunderstanding of the book. The misery that David feels and the end of Giovanni's story are not brought about purely by virtue of their being gay but rather they're proofs of Baldwin's thesis that denying the truth of who you love is a kind of death. It's David's internalized homophobia that stops him from admitting his love for Giovanni, which leads first to Giovanni's decline and eventual execution and second to Hella's unhappiness. But it isn't so simple as David making the decision to allow himself to love Giovanni; Baldwin is deliberate in portraying the factors that complicate David fully accepting the fact that he feels this love, very powerful forces that include internalized homophobia, notions of masculinity, compulsory heterosexuality, and class. Tied into the issue of class are the concepts of race, nationality, and culture, and how these concepts even further complicate ideas of manhood/masculinity and justice.

Guillaume being a member of an old money French family and Giovanni being a poor Italian immigrant in Paris, it's difficult to fathom that class and nation didn't play significant roles in Giovanni's trial and, consequently, his fate. Thus, it's difficult to fathom that Baldwin didn't deliberately seek to depict how these broader ideas affect and complicate daily emotional life.

On the subject of race/nationality, if I recall correctly, there was also some criticism about the fact that Baldwin chose to write his protagonist as a white man rather than a Black one. However, I found that even though there were no Black characters present, the story was very aware of David's American-ness, if not exactly his whiteness. It's been said that people become more aware of how their homelands have impacted them once they travel abroad, and this is true for David. Though he becomes familiar enough with Paris to get around and have an understanding of the rhythms of the culture, he is never truly at home in Paris. Giovanni and the French characters alike speak of the differences they perceive between Americans and people of the Old World, and later, Giovanni speaks scornfully of the image of moneyed American tourists in his hometown. Rather than separating the subjects of race and homosexuality by writing a white protagonist, I believe Baldwin chose to examine them in conjunction with each other by focusing initially on white masculinity. Whiteness as a concept is irrevocably tied to a sense of superiority and supremacy, but David in the end finds that clinging to his idea of masculinity ultimately fails him, leaving him low.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse

izzthicc's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

4.5

I hated almost every character in this book more than I liked them (except Hela) and even then, I loved this book. Baldwin’s writing is heartbreaking and intentional. Though David’s cynicism infects you throughout the pages, you can’t help but glimpse the slight hopefulness that I think is prevalent in the subtext. In the end,

David is still unlikeable, still running away from that which scares him, but he’s still changed in a way, though you can see that he has no plans to deviate from his habits.

I just really liked this book. It’s the first of Baldwin’s works that I’ve read and I’m now looking forward to reading some more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Murder

jeremie's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Murder