Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Giovanni's Room

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

368 reviews

quinn24's review against another edition

5.0

Thank you James Baldwin for writing about internalised homophobia, toxic masculinity, and how the closet kills, I love you. I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus.

Alexa play good luck, babe! by Chappell Roan

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jmichaelw28's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A well-deserved classic, Giovanni's Room is a deep dive into the psyche of a White, queer man's struggle with masculinity and his own sexuality. Baldwin authentically ties together desire, self-loathing, and love into an unblinking character study. I would highly recommend pairing this book with Byung-Chul Han's The Agony of Eros.

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kaywhiteley's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.75

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ericispublius's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Baldwin writes with a heart-tearing beauty; he sees humanity in its tribulation & lamentation — each inseparable

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lp961's review against another edition

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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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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sarah_kula's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

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9inchnailzzz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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fishweb's review against another edition

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challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

id like to point out that i read the last 2 chapters whilst listening to radiohead and it made it sm more gut wrenching x

ts is so well written and so character driven. i loved it so much, even when i put it down i couldn't stop thinking about it.

i've seen people complaining about the ‘lack of plot’ and to that i say: you are unfathomably stupid and completely missed the point. its the equivalent to reading an autobiography and then complaining that its too much like real life?!?

also there was nothing more satisfying than hella absolutely gagging david at the end. he was such a terrible person who never truly cared abt anyone else and yet he always played the “woe is me” card. hella and giovanni should've teamed up and killed his ass!!

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charlotteoftheweb's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad

4.0

This was a fascinating and tragic novel. The fascinating part was the glimpse into a man from the 50s acutely struggling with his internalized homophobia (and the very real threat of external homophobia as well). But it was tragic because, as outsiders, we could see every bad decision that David made, and we wish we could do better, but we know he won't. And, despite the fact that I'm a woman from 2024, there were countless pages that I dogeared solely because I could relate so strongly to David and his anxieties.

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carolive's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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