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Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
15 reviews
sarahb919's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Fatphobia and Colonisation
Minor: Abortion
brown_nat's review against another edition
3.25
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Violence
themis_biblos's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Antisemitism, and Classism
ruthypoo2's review against another edition
3.75
John Berendt does an excellent job creating an interesting atmosphere of the particular historical city of Savannah, and is respectful in relaying his impressions of the uniquely entertaining personalities he encountered. More than anything, the neighborhoods and communities included in the book ooze with old-fashioned southern charm and gentility.
I listened to the audiobook and feel the narrator, Jeff Woodman, delivered a superb characterization of every individual in the story with lovely diction and subtle accents. His performance thoroughly enhanced my enjoyment of this book.
Moderate: Death and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Classism
cooliuscaesar451's review
3.25
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Trafficking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
librarymouse's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, and Antisemitism
Minor: Incest
trashbinfluencer's review against another edition
3.25
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Antisemitism, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
cyberhavok's review
3.5
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia
emmonsannae's review against another edition
4.25
Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Murder
savvylit's review against another edition
1.5
First things first is the rampant homophobia and transphobia. Early on in the narrative, the author befriends Chablis, a trans woman, but is kind of afraid of her because he finds her attractive. He also never takes anything Chablis says or does seriously, seemingly maintaining friendship with her just to scandalize everyone he knows and have someone "unusual" to write about. As for the homophobia - it is continuous throughout the book, waxing and waning in its severity, with hate crimes being casually discussed and the f-slur being used repeatedly by the characters.
The second problem is the treatment of all Black people featured in this book. Berendt describes Black people that he meets as curiosities, taking a creepy anthropological approach. It's incredibly dehumanizing. Outside of Berendt himself, the people that he gets to know best over the course of his time in Savannah are very bigoted. For instance, the heavily-featured character Joe Odom loves to drop the n-word. Odom's racism is the most overt but there is quite a lot more covert racism throughout. Often, the high society of Savannah seems to be surprised that Black people who don't serve them even exist!
The third problem with this book is its entire elitist approach. Berendt is cashing in on people's very real lives in a way that ultimately paints him as above it all. Everyone is two-dimensional. Clearly, Berendt enjoys merely collecting folks in his life for their writability. As the story progresses, it begins to feel more and more like a mocking story told over drinks at a bougie New York party. (Berendt is from NY). I can see him saying "You wouldn't believe all these wealthy Southerners and their odd habits. Or the crazy gay people I met! Isn't the South so quirky and bizarre? Isn't bigoted behavior & conversation just so quirky and fun?"
Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Outing