Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Ohio by Stephen Markley

3 reviews

realmagicfakereality's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and War

danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

What a book. Through the lens of a group of disaffected 20 somethings who came of age during the early aughts, this book is an unflinching indictment of toxic masculinity and how it exerts its force on the personal and the global. This book follows a group of old high school friends crashing back together on one fateful and devastating night, and examines the ways that we all try to create stories out of memory, and the consequences that lay within. An incandescent debut novel from Stephen Markley.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bookhoarder2022's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I went into this book with high hopes & a friend’s recommendation. 

It took me 6 months to read it, because I just couldn’t get GOING. 

Once I finally made progress, my average expression was a grimace: there are so so so many fatphobic descriptions I could barely blink without some other mention about how someone was less attractive than high school with weigh gain playing a part every time. 

Speaking  of attraction, there is so much longing in this book for HS lovers the now almost-30-year-old main characters want to get back to & HS sexcapades that honestly just feel gross to me, reading as a just-turned-30 myself & thinking about my HS self. It’s weird. 

Overall, there’s a strange way that HS seems to possess the minds and hearts of these characters in a way that just disturbed me. 

2 stars for excellent characters (even though I found them miserable) & some interesting plot decisions. Would not read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Misogyny, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, and War

Moderate: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Eating disorder, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Abortion