Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Giovannis Zimmer by James Baldwin

181 reviews

quinn24's review against another edition

5.0

Thank you James Baldwin for writing about internalised homophobia, toxic masculinity, and  how the closet kills, I love you. I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus.

Alexa play good luck, babe! by Chappell Roan

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cursing and Miscarriage

ericispublius's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Baldwin writes with a heart-tearing beauty; he sees humanity in its tribulation & lamentation — each inseparable

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Outing, and Alcohol

josiee123's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Not because I don't love James Baldwin but because at times I found the plot a bit dry and slow. But because I want to read more Baldwin I'll be moving onto some Parisian essays

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

apthompson's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

9inchnailzzz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

charlotteoftheweb's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad

4.0

This was a fascinating and tragic novel. The fascinating part was the glimpse into a man from the 50s acutely struggling with his internalized homophobia (and the very real threat of external homophobia as well). But it was tragic because, as outsiders, we could see every bad decision that David made, and we wish we could do better, but we know he won't.  And, despite the fact that I'm a woman from 2024, there were countless pages that I dogeared solely because I could relate so strongly to David and his anxieties.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

carolive'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

marthadude's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

mates's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

crying. absolutely 10/10 book. The storytelling, the plot, the characters... James Baldwin's writing is so poetic, he managed to describe the ultimite gay struggle and the struggle of gay men's sexuality in society. The book is very personal and close to my heart, it hits so close to home and I think that every gay man can relate to this in a sense. Instant favourite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Outing

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

in the last book i read, Greta & Valdin, Valdin is praised for not being "one of those gay men who says awful things about women" and reading that i was like what! which gay men are those, i'll fight them. these are those gay men.

i was expecting a tragedy of forbidden love between expats in Europe, a proto–Call Me By Your Name, but that's not what this is. rather, Giovanni's Room is a character study of two lost men who come to depend on each other for purpose, until their foundations crumble. the pacing was excellent and the journey as bleak as it was for our characters. i was going to make fun of my edition's Tortured Poets Department–ass cover (black-and-white photo of subject posed in almost cartoonish angst), but it's actually quite fitting:

David, our narrator,

is the smallest man who ever lived. they're both terrible misogynists, don't get me wrong, but this one is literally an emotional terrorist (albeit unintentional, i believe).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Death of parent