Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman

124 reviews

frey's review

emotional sad

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism

Minor: Abandonment, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Transphobia, Vomit, Medical content, and Blood

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.5

I still think Loveless is Alice Oseman's best novel thus far, but this one might be a close second. It really digs into the idea of fame and the ways society obsesses over famous people. And mental health and anxiety and all of those thinks you come to expect in an Alice Oseman novel. Of course, we get another group of characters who are wonderfully developed, and thrown into this kind of chaotic situation. 

I also appreciated that there's no central romance in this, it's more focused on friendship of the main two characters. They're both trying to figure out their place in the world, and finding each other kind of helps with that. Oseman really just excels at writing those kinds of relationships in her books, and that's what keeps me coming back to them.

Anyway, I can now say that I've read every single one of Alice Oseman's books, so yay! Can't wait for what's to come next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Transphobia, Outing, and Adult/minor relationship

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective slow-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

3.0

Like other Oseman books, I didn't love this but I also didn't dislike it. It was entertaining, but felt like a self-insertion fanfiction by and about fans obsessed over a boy band. The characters are all fun and the problems they navigate werr intriguing enough to keep me reading to the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Self harm, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Alcoholism, and Abandonment

good_names_dont_exist's review

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Alcoholism and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Outing

dalek_caan's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective fast-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

3.75

I found this book to be enjoyable and a pretty quick read. I found Angel to be a really annoying pov character at first but she grew on me as the story went on. I definitely felt like there was a lot of nuance with the characters overall, which I definitely appreciated. It was also kind of interesting to follow two sides to the same story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, Outing, Transphobia, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Racism, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

talync_06's review

dark emotional sad tense 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

4.0

I found the characters very unlikeable for most of it but at the end I loved them. Fun but intense read. They all need therapy. Refreshing take on fame, fandom, and parasocial relationships.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Transphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Outing

acebooknerd_07's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective 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: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, and Outing

karin_goodreads's review

emotional reflective

5.0

I read this for my English class. This was super interesting, what the fuck??
To be able to see the story from both sides, who kind of stand opposite of each other, as a fan and the performer, is so though-provoking! I swear, the fandom life is so well written, and I think that The Boys experience is also getting portrayed accurately. Jimmy, Lister and Rowan were a very interesting bunch with and without their problems and struggles.

This is one of those works that are just different (in a good way). The main theme of the book isn't romance, but rather the fame, fans and struggles that come with this lifestyle, while also exploring how life is for those said fans. I quite enjoyed the fact that this book didn't have the characters get super close randomly, like, this situation would be one of those crazy memories that happened, but it didn't lead to anything more.

Furthermore, I'm enlightened.. I feel like I had to confront some parts of my old self while reading this. It also makes me feel understood, perhaps even happy to know that others share such thoughts and feelings as I do. Having been pretty involved in fandoms for years I recognised myself in Angel. It felt great, but it was also kind of eye-opening, I felt called out. It's nice to realise how you've seen the world and how you could see it.

 I am not afraid, said Noah

I was born for this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Blood, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Outing and Transphobia

val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Addiction, Blood, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Outing, Transphobia, and Suicidal thoughts

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

As someone who has participated in multiple different fandom spaces, some of the things in this book immediately put me on the defensive. But I think it was good for me to flex those muscles and really examine how I and other people were interacting within fandoms. I also think that these main characters did a lot of things that I might not do or want them to do, but I think that made me engage with the text more as well. Definitely an interesting read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Sexual harassment, and Alcoholism

Minor: Confinement, Transphobia, Biphobia, and Racism