Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

48 reviews

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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? No

4.5

I thoroughly enjoyed this coming-of-age story and am grateful, again, that stories like this exist for today's teens. The short chapters and first-person narration make this a fast-paced read, and I enjoyed the irreverent, sincere and self-deprecating voice of our main character, Yamilet. Reyes explores the complex intersections in identity for Yamilet, who comes out as a lesbian, and her younger brother, Cesar, who comes out as bisexual, within their deeply Catholic, Mexican-American household. We can see the layered obstacles for this family as they fight to stay afloat independently years after the deportation of their father (leaving their mother as the family's sole source of income) and thrive in a world that feels fractured along too many religious, cultural and familial fault lines. 

Most compelling in this story is Reyes' look at mental health crises for queer teens. We know statistically that queer teens face disproportionately high rates of bullying and harassment, physical and sexual abuse, depression, and suicidal ideation, and we see these themes explicitly played out in Yamilet and Cesar's storylines. Readers who like to see on-page discussions of mental health care and intervention (akin to Heartstopper) will appreciate how these conflicts are managed by Reyes - particularly how they evidence the ways in which racism and classism within healthcare further complicate crisis care and long-term support for marginalized youth.

I found myself more drawn to the family dynamics and interpersonal relationships (outside of the romances) in this story (the sibling dynamic between Yami + Cesar meant the world to me), so I was only disappointed that the final 20% centered romance to the degree that it did for Yamilet - that said, this was just personal preference. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Abandonment

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing and Blood

tmchopra's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Deportation

leahisdudish's review against another edition

3.0

mostly picked it up cos of the title tbh 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Abandonment

kshertz's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

4.25

This YA book is all told from a high school girls perspective so it’s definitely made for high schoolers. It’s sweet, funny, revenant and cute. It’s tough and a reminder that high school is tough. A reminder to be kind to them for me. It has some tough conversations around families and unconditional love. Highly recommend as a great read ❤️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, and Deportation

antoniag's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful 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: Homophobia, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Deportation

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Abandonment

mycarefulcardinal's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Police brutality, Medical content, Outing, Abandonment, and Deportation

levitatingnumeral's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School manages to touch on some really tough topics with grace and seriousness while being a light and pleasant read.
It’s truly lovely, I didn’t want to put it down and the characters are so well fleshed out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Deportation

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Biphobia

tinyjude's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted sad fast-paced

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

4.75

One of my absolute highlights of this book was the relationship between Yamiret and Cesar. I love sibling relationships in books where they support each other.

Although some topics are triggering and hard to read, the book is so easy to follow and the lovable characters make the pain melt away a little. Bo is the absolute cutest and I love how much of a lesbian disaster both girls were, it was cute and lighthearted. It hurt to see Yamiret hide so much of herself, but I understand and I wish I had the courage Bo showed here when I was in my catholic school. As well as I understand the struggle to think about ways of earning money in case you get kicked out of home when you show yourself. Also Jamal and Cesar :( babies, I hope the best for them because they also seemed so cute.

It's always the art teacher or the English teacher and we love it audjsjs

The book also deals with topics such as cultural identity, police brutality (*cough* acab) and immigration/intolerance towards immigrants, sexuality, putting boundaries in relation with your adopted white family as a person of colour dettached from your culture and your people, mental health issues, homophobia, mentions of colonialism, racist encounters, colourism, stereotypes about latine people, especially women. 

I think the author did a fantastic job, and definitely all the tears I shed on the last chapters at 3 am are proof of that. But most of all, what filled my heart with joy and broke me was Yamiret and Cesar's mom. I love her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Deportation

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

potion96's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, and Deportation

Moderate: Police brutality and Abandonment

bluberrybooks's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Abandonment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, and Deportation

Minor: Medical content