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theangrystackrat's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Racism
solnit_and_sebastian's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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
5.0
Beautifully written in prose, Dean Atta's The Black Flamingo is the story of a young, queer, Jamaican and Greek Cypriot boy from London. The story carries through his first year at university, wherein Michael continues his journey of self-discovery, and learns more about new and old friends that challenges some aspects of his worldview. The intersection of Michael's identities, and how he relates to his family, friends, and the world through various lenses, are a primary focus of the book. Accessible, eloquent, and cathartic, I unreservedly recommend it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Abandonment
Minor: Bullying, Racism, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol
andyourstruly's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I am not usually into coming-of-age novels and am especially cautious of queer coming-of-age novels because it usually spends so much time wrestling with self-loathing and/or whether or not they are queer.
Black Flamingo is really refreshing in having a protaganist who is very assured in himself and has a strong support system at home. Rather than man vs self, it's man vs society and the main character deciding how he will approach the world as someone whose identity lies at so many intersections, which is a journey I feel like we usually only catch characters like him in the "after" phase of, as the side character or inspiration in someone else's story instead of as their own protaganist.
The other thing I really like is how concise it feels. Many CoA stories make us walk through a bunch of fumbles and trauma and awkward mistakes before the protaganist is allowed to Become, and Black Flamingo doesn't make this a prominent part of Michael's journey. He makes mistakes, but the story is about Michael's coming to understand his multiple identities and how to meet a world that wants to fit him into a box, rather than the world teaching him some humility for any misplaced pride.
Black Flamingo is really refreshing in having a protaganist who is very assured in himself and has a strong support system at home. Rather than man vs self, it's man vs society and the main character deciding how he will approach the world as someone whose identity lies at so many intersections, which is a journey I feel like we usually only catch characters like him in the "after" phase of, as the side character or inspiration in someone else's story instead of as their own protaganist.
The other thing I really like is how concise it feels. Many CoA stories make us walk through a bunch of fumbles and trauma and awkward mistakes before the protaganist is allowed to Become, and Black Flamingo doesn't make this a prominent part of Michael's journey. He makes mistakes, but the story is about Michael's coming to understand his multiple identities and how to meet a world that wants to fit him into a box, rather than the world teaching him some humility for any misplaced pride.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism
Minor: Rape and Lesbophobia
Details on the minor rape CW: Contains a scene wherefrawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition
challenging
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, and Transphobia
michellegrl's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
readingsofaslinky's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-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
5.0
So beautiful. The final pages had me crying. The perfect Bildungsroman.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, and Racism
thepostman96's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
Minor: Cultural appropriation and Abandonment
ashlightgrayson's review against another edition
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
5.0
It was such a pleasure reading through this book. I am queer, mixed, and black just as the main character, Michael, is. I was able to relate to him in many ways. The poetry in the story had a nice rhythm to it as you read. I personally recommend reading it aloud sometimes so that you can really appreciate it.
Michael has a lot of internal dialogue that feels genuinely teenaged in nature. He was still very likeable throughout the story and I found his internal monologue endearing. It really made me sympathetic towards him whenever Michael got into not so ideal situations or made mistakes. His parents are incredibly supportive of him. It was refreshing to see their attitudes help Michael embrace both sides of his multi-ethnic culture.
Daisy, Michael's long time childhood friend, serves as a foil for Michael. Michael attempts to embrace his blackness and queerness and grows more comfortable with his identity as the book progresses. In contrast, Daisy becomes more openly queerphobic and anti-black. She goes out of her way to avoid parts of her black identity. She is more white passing than Michael and she at times weaponizes this and uses her privilege in ways that are harmful. Additionally, as her character continues to develop, she says more outright racist or homophobic things. Daisy is not the only person that enters Michael's life that reflects forms of queerphobia or ignorance when it comes to race. Each of these encounters and interactions allow Michael to grow and become more secure in his identity.
Everything comes wonderfully full circle by the end of the book and was incredibly satisfying for me. I found the story satisfying, uplifting, and hopeful. I am looking forward to more works written by this author. I definitely do recommend this coming-of-age story for teenagers, but especially queer teenagers. However, even as a queer adult, it made me happy that there are queer stories out there like this.
Michael has a lot of internal dialogue that feels genuinely teenaged in nature. He was still very likeable throughout the story and I found his internal monologue endearing. It really made me sympathetic towards him whenever Michael got into not so ideal situations or made mistakes. His parents are incredibly supportive of him. It was refreshing to see their attitudes help Michael embrace both sides of his multi-ethnic culture.
Daisy, Michael's long time childhood friend, serves as a foil for Michael. Michael attempts to embrace his blackness and queerness and grows more comfortable with his identity as the book progresses. In contrast, Daisy becomes more openly queerphobic and anti-black. She goes out of her way to avoid parts of her black identity. She is more white passing than Michael and she at times weaponizes this and uses her privilege in ways that are harmful. Additionally, as her character continues to develop, she says more outright racist or homophobic things. Daisy is not the only person that enters Michael's life that reflects forms of queerphobia or ignorance when it comes to race. Each of these encounters and interactions allow Michael to grow and become more secure in his identity.
Everything comes wonderfully full circle by the end of the book and was incredibly satisfying for me. I found the story satisfying, uplifting, and hopeful. I am looking forward to more works written by this author. I definitely do recommend this coming-of-age story for teenagers, but especially queer teenagers. However, even as a queer adult, it made me happy that there are queer stories out there like this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
ielliie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
sauvageloup's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-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
I didn't know this was a verse novel going into it, so that was a surprise, but i rly liked it all the same.
pros:
- poetic language, with some very good poems and thoughtful writing. it carried the story along quickly, moving through time and settings with no confusion and vividly.
- a very accessible story about lots of complicated ideas around identity, race, gender, christianity, coming of age, etc. it covers a lot of topics without feeling rushed or shallow.
- I was especially interested in the MC's exploration of his mixed race heritage and culture and feelings as a British guy and how being black influenced his queer experience. I didnt know much about that at all so that was very rewarding to read.
- the characters were all interesting and you rooted for them or disliked them depending on the character. some were complicated, like daisy and Rowan and had growth. I liked how it spanned a full 2 decades of life really well. we could see Michael's whole journey from barbie playing child to realised and accepted black gay drag queen.
- interesting also to see a British perspective as other books I've read have had a US one.
cons:
- I found the start quite childish in tone. I know it was focused on a child and told from his POV, but the simplistic language felt dull. but i got into it fast and enjoyed the uni sections much more.
- maybe there could have been more depth of background characters, or the book just felt much shorter because of the prose. but I did like it a lot. would have liked to see Michaels and Kieran relationship go further.
overall, a fun, different read from my usual. not prose like I expected but good!
pros:
- poetic language, with some very good poems and thoughtful writing. it carried the story along quickly, moving through time and settings with no confusion and vividly.
- a very accessible story about lots of complicated ideas around identity, race, gender, christianity, coming of age, etc. it covers a lot of topics without feeling rushed or shallow.
- I was especially interested in the MC's exploration of his mixed race heritage and culture and feelings as a British guy and how being black influenced his queer experience. I didnt know much about that at all so that was very rewarding to read.
- the characters were all interesting and you rooted for them or disliked them depending on the character. some were complicated, like daisy and Rowan and had growth. I liked how it spanned a full 2 decades of life really well. we could see Michael's whole journey from barbie playing child to realised and accepted black gay drag queen.
- interesting also to see a British perspective as other books I've read have had a US one.
cons:
- I found the start quite childish in tone. I know it was focused on a child and told from his POV, but the simplistic language felt dull. but i got into it fast and enjoyed the uni sections much more.
- maybe there could have been more depth of background characters, or the book just felt much shorter because of the prose. but I did like it a lot. would have liked to see Michaels and Kieran relationship go further.
overall, a fun, different read from my usual. not prose like I expected but good!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, and Violence