Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Flamer by Mike Curato

18 reviews

xandraj's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Body shaming, and Racism

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Outing

rhiannon814r's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a good read! It was very slice-of-life, when I had expected it to be more plot-driven. The art was great and was perfect for telling the story. I don’t know how to describe it. Maybe I’ll be able to write a better review when I’m done SOBBING.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs, Self harm, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Child death, Cancer, Fatphobia, and Outing

Spoiler

There was a happy ending (or at least a satisfying conclusion where nothing terrible winds up happening to the main character), but the book as a whole was heavy.

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

Me DNFing this is not a critique of the book at all! I think I might just be too much older than the protagonist Aiden in order for me to meaningfully get into the story.

If you are closer to middle school age or someone who can relate to Aiden's experiences around scouting, for example, you might be able to better relate to this book than I was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

nicoleonbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? No

5.0

Heartwrenching. LGBTQ+ kids, and adults, will find themselves in Aiden and his struggle around his sexuality. The art perfectly matched the story. Perfect use of color to depict emotion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Bullying

Minor: Domestic abuse and Outing

alisazhup's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Body shaming

Minor: Self harm, Outing, and Pedophilia

marenmk's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Bullying

Moderate: Racial slurs and Suicide attempt

Minor: Domestic abuse

tangleroot_eli's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

This is so beautifully drawn. Curato's black-and-white landscapes are stunning, and the occasional pops of red and orange are perfectly chosen and placed. I kind of want to go back through it and just look at the pictures, without reading the words.

Because the words are... they're rough, y'all. I'm not too much older than the characters here, and it was a terrible time to be a young queer person. Or a young person other people thought was queer. Or a young person who was just different in any way. And yet we all yearned for connection and belonging, no matter how many times other people broke our hearts. Curato looks at all of that with an unflinching honesty that made the book kind of difficult to get through. He tells a vitally important story, but not, perhaps, one you'll want to revisit, despite the hopeful ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Racism, Religious bigotry, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Body horror, and Sexism

mswarning's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

5.0

I'm not the audience that this book needs to reach. Regardless.. I had so much shame growing up in the Catholic Church as a relatively obedient cishet girl/woman that I can't begin to imagine the experience of the mc. Really loved the friendship and camaderie despite the problematic peers and family life he had. The art feels like something the mc would draw, and I liked that it was BW with spots of red/orange. I also really appreciated the mc loving and identifying with Jean Grey/Phoenix.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Homophobia

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Suicide attempt

johnbat's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Racism

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Suicide attempt

robinks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I flew through this book, though as a fellow QT AAPI person, it was really challenging to read through the bullying and Aiden’s palpable feelings. I didn’t really like the art style, and the flame metaphor was a bit of a stretch, but overall this is a powerful, hopefully story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Bullying, and Misogyny

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, Outing, and Sexual content