Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

An Ordinary Wonder by Buki Papillon

15 reviews

drymice's review

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, and Transphobia

Minor: Miscarriage and Xenophobia

jijirich's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Outing, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Child death and Rape

megelizabeth's review against another edition

2.5

Ugh, this book had so much potential and was then so disappointing (for me anyway). It started off strong and there are definitely aspects I really liked and appreciated - the key ones being the dream-like atmosphere, several of the relationships, the conversations around the intersex experience, and the coming-of-age thread to the narrative. It also does an excellent job of portraying the experience of missing out on girlhood, and that element truly broke me. 

However, several plot strands develop which I just wasn't a fan of and which I found to really take away from the wider themes, and I particularly despised how it's portrayed as completely fine for an adult man to go after a fifteen-year-old girl. And, while I did like the dreaminess of the writing, it really threw me off that this is marketed as an adult book and yet reads entirely like YA. Like, literally just write an actual YA book!!! So, unfortunately, this did end up being a miss for me overall, which is such a shame as it touches on some really important themes and did have such great potential. :(

(I would also strongly urge that, if you're reading this review and still wanting to give this book a go, PLEASE check the content warnings - it's extremely heavy in MANY different ways!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

qwends's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor: Murder

decie's review

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Outing

Moderate: Child death and Suicide

mitcheljhunter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Suicide

bowden's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

woweewhoa's review

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Medical content, and Dysphoria

Minor: Vomit, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

jadior's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

This book is probably the best book I've ever read! It is a coming-of-age story of a Nigerian boy who wishes to identify as a female. He has a twin sister, who is aware of this. His mother rejects him because he is different. It is a sad story, but also a heartwarming story. Definitely a must read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Sexual harassment

seeceeread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative inspiring reflective sad tense

• 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

💭 "If everything in existence had many stories — the real ones, and the shadow ones, and the fantastical ones —then what was my real story?"

Born with ambiguous genitalia, Otolorin has been forced to live as a boy, despite early assertions of her girlhood. Called "Oto" throughout the text, she longs to present Lori. Slowly, she discovers talent for visual arts, a best friend, a passion for romance novels. Along the way, she dodges a lethal grandmother, an epic bully, sexual assault, a painfully neglectful mother and the tripwires of her assumed masculinity among adolescent peers. Papillon equips her with spiritual guides, a book of proverbs, a committed karate teacher, stellar academics and a surrogate father figure. 

This debut feels somewhat like 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝘇. The premise is bold. Lori's day-to-day grappling with gender is written with tenderness and care. Some of the imagery and construction really sing, including out of body scenes in which Lori convenes with Yeyemi for divine courage. We could talk and talk about this one! Still, the total package is crowded, especially at the end when we move from character study to thriller (and a dash of romance): Lori hogties one of her attackers, masquerades as her sister, records key details to denounce a bad actor, then blackmails her absent father into funding a happily-ever-after. Plus her bully is actually a Terminator member of a confraternity. And her other grandmother is hurriedly revealed as a sort of fairy godmother. And her best friendship morphs into becomes a long distance romance. (😩)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment