Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor

23 reviews

evanthebooknerd's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit and Car accident

Teenage angst with happy ending.

jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-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

1.0

I skipped around and read the ending after Jeremy was complaining again about his issues. Every character made me want to revaluate my own decisions and personal life. Never been happier to be single. The arson was honestly not the craziest thing about this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

aspencross's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.0

The main characters in this book need 👏ther-👏a-👏py👏
Naomi and Ben also deserved better and both deserved to be homecoming king and queen.

-Jeremy is an asshole who’s only consequence is getting punched by a bully when he is such a shit friend to everybody
- the boy also complains about not wanting to be a victim and then victimizes himself all the time
- Jeremy does so much shit in this book and we’re told that he’s popular and was popular before he transitioned and I do not understand how when he’s so insufferable 
- I was on Lukas’s side until

he lit the school on fire, cheated on Naomi, almost ruined Ben’s Life by not admitting he cheated on a test by stealing the answers

. I get he’s going through a lot but he went way too far. 
- I have never rooted for 2 characters to never get together as much as Jeremy and Lukas 
- The ending was horrible because there’s so many plot points that are left unopened like

Terry stealing 30k from the school and never facing consequences, principal not getting reprimanded for giving a teenager a card with thousands of dollars, the potential updated code of conduct, what universities the students got into, how their lives went after not winning homecoming court, Lukas’s parent’s divorce

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Side note: the author has also apparently done some shit and is lesphobic. This Reddit post has links and more information https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/s/JuVfSwXcrt 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

fanboyriot's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Read For:

Rivals to Lovers 

Second Chances

Homecoming King

Cheerleader x Football Player

Friends to Lovers to Enemies to Lovers

The only thing that comes to mind when I think of this book is: “I love it and hate it at the same time” and really I kind of do.

The queer kids in this book were amazing, everyone else just kinda sucked.  The trans rep in this was so painfully well written.  The things Jeremy thought and the way he described how he felt was as heartbreaking as it was relatable.

But wow, were these characters so toxic.

Naomi was such a horrible friend it was laughable.  She was jealous constantly and she just goes and asks out her best friend’s ex, who had made it clear he didn’t like her like that??  Like why??  All because of some banters that were messed up, I get being petty but bro have a good reason.

Lukas was so toxic.  One minute he was fine, going through a lot at home and having to always be the best at everything.  He had to get into an amazing college, he had to win homecoming king because if he did that then he would get into a good school, then his family would care about him like they did his dead brother… yeah, because that's how it’s going to work.  So he took his anger out on Jermey.

Jeremy was also toxic, just not as bad in my opinion.  He was selfish and breaking up with his boyfriend when and how he did it was so incredibly messed up but people acted like he was the worst person ever.  He literally had no one.  His mom was so desperate to have a daughter she failed her son in the process.  Jeremy might have been a mess but wouldn’t you be when everyone failed you and had no problem telling you that they hated you, he was bullied, harassed, and misgendered constantly.

The last few chapters were the best.  Everything coming together, the person who got the crown, the drama being resolved finally, and the relationships being settled.

(Switching, First Person POV)

Spice: Lightly Mentioned

Rep: trans (ftm) MC, Autistic MC, Non-Binary SC, Latinx SC

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Biphobia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

adamparrishlover's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-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

2.5

horrible main character, don’t think ive ever read about such an insufferable person

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Grief

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

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

5.0

WOW. 

A gripe I usually have with queer fiction - especially queer YA fiction - is that the queer characters are not allowed to be messy disasters. There is a very limited amount of disaster allowed for queer characters before they have to be consumed by guilt and apologies.

That is not a problem here! These guys - the two main characters, Jeremy and Lukas - are selfish and angry and hurting and think that ruling a high school via Homecoming Court can fix that. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that it obviously can't. There are some truly painful moments in here, but I loved that. I loved that they did awful things that I totally would've also done if I'd been in their scared and miserable positions when I was seventeen. This is not making excuses for them, though - they are completely in the wrong most of the time- just, it makes their character growth wayyy more satisfying than usual. 

This author clearly has a very nuanced understanding of queerness, and he approached how transitioning goes from a number of angles, including an important one that I don't usually see - that trans people themselves need to grow into their genders and resist toxic behaviors for the sake of validity. 

I was also pleasantly surprised by the autistic representation in Lukas, which I wasn't aware of before I started reading this. I appreciate that a trans gay guy and an autistic got to be assholes and not use their identities as an excuse, but that those identities were integral to how they process the world. That's a fine line to balance, and I think Ellor did a great job.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Car accident, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism and Classism

-F-slur used a few times

lulunyx's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

2.25

Conflicted as I like the premise and themes of the book I just didn't like a lot about it:

• Really love the themes explored but some topics were brushed over and not handled well.  
• The two leads are both dicks, and got worse. You can have unlikeable characters just don't try and pass them off as good.
• They also have zero chemistry. Toxic as hell.
• Writing style kind of bugged me
• Plot was predictable 

On the plus side:

• Side characters are better than the leads 
• The way Meehan, Philip and the world treat Jeremy really struck me (I still want to punch many people in the face, especially Connor). 
• Really important topics (even if some of the topics brought up are not fully explored) and has good diversity of characters.  

Media definitely needs more stories with trans, neurodivergent and non-white characters. The human race is diverse and amazing with so many views, media should reflect that. But this book, brushed over so many of the topics it brought up and didn't go into any real depth especially for Lukas' autism. My brother is trans and the way Jeremy is treated is realistic to what my brother has experienced, which made it difficult at times to read but also made me super mad at the reality the ignorance of some characters like Connor and Phillip shows. Overall, an important story to tell just wish it was done better.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia

Moderate: Child death, Sexism, and Dysphoria

Minor: Racism and Sexual assault

love_bookswillbetheendofme's review against another edition

tense slow-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

3.0

Sol was an absolute delight amidst this drama. Both Jeremy and Lukas were heavily flawed, but I honestly don't like Jeremy as a person whatsoever. Lukas had his good and bad moments.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Car accident

paskendus's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

3.0

I am very glad I went into this book knowing that both main characters are a bit annoying. I guess one can expect that from teenagers. 
 It was an interesting read in a way, especially seeing teenagers showing anger and even being spiteful as a self preservation technique, but my oh my how they did not communicate. With each other or the adults. And the adults were... passive at best, so all around people just trying to survive on assumptions. 
 The writing felt repetitive at times and overly dramatic for my taste. I also did not feel a lot while reading the book, I got what the author wanted me to feel, but I just didn't. Characters made correct, good conclusions after something happening but I just did not see how they got there, that may be on me and lack of investment. I also think it was preachy and very on the nose at times. 
 And honestly I  did not like the ending after all the messy things that happened everyone should have gotten some therapy to work through at least some of their personal stuff before being all lovie dovie. Or I at least would have loved to see the resolving their problems more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, and Transphobia

Moderate: Ableism, Deadnaming, Death, Homophobia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

darkmattersoybean's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment