Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Just By Looking at Him

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Just By Looking at Him by Ryan O'Connell

24 reviews

howdyhoward's review against another edition

emotional funny

3.0

I avoided this book for a while because the cover made me think it would be super serious. Instead, it had a light and comedic tone like much of O'Connell's other works. This was a pretty quick read, and while it dealt with some tough topics like infidelity and substance abuse, it kept it light with constant joke cracking. It felt a lot like a coming of age movie (which is a similar theme to the TV shows O'Connell has worked on). There are a lot of aspects of this book that I didn't like. The characters felt kind of surface level and Elliot's perspective was rather insulated. Elliot makes generalizations about all marginalized people (because he is disabled) that ring as especially hollow considering how much privilege he himself has as an affluent cis man. These observations may just be internalized self-hatred, which he begins to shed at the very end of the book, but they are repeated rather often unchallenged and all together leave a bad taste in my mouth. There are other aspects of Elliot's privilege that are generalized by the text (likely because O'Connell is a similar demographic) that other reviewers have pointed out do not apply to racialized people, which could be very off-putting. I was familiar with O'Connell's previous works that share a similar perspective so I was expecting it, but the insulated world of skinny affluent gay men in Los Angeles is probably not one that many can relate to. Your mileage may vary on how much this bothers you. Elliot spends the majority of the book feeling both in control of and made helpless by his disability (cerebral palsy). He uses sex and relationships to feel desirable and bases his self worth on whether others find him attractive.

In the final scene, he has sex with another disabled man for the first time and is able to let his guard down and feel sexy in how his body actually works instead of how (he perceives) others wish it worked.

This scene was absolutely gorgeous and left the (overall mediocre) book on a really positive note for me. I feel a similar way about O'Connell's netflix show Special. While our disabilities aren't too similar, that show was one of the first pieces of media I really related with about my experience with disability, and that makes it really important to me. I wish more of the book could have had Elliot hating his disability less, but everyone goes on their own journey in coming to terms with their bodies.

Content Warnings

theskyboi's review against another edition

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tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

phalanq's review against another edition

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emotional funny fast-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

I loved this. Maybe I’m biased as a disabled queer, but this was great. It’s not often I laugh out loud reading a book but I did so several times while reading this. Definitely rec to my fellow queers (and allies or whatever)

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sweetsimplenothing's review against another edition

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funny fast-paced

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

1.5

Content Warnings

scarroll178's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

Very poignant and thoughtful but also hilarious. Well structured and also just insanely well written. Half of the time you feel like you’re talking to a friend in crisis, and the other half you feel like you’re having a breakthrough in therapy. Absolutely unhinged in the best way possible.

Content Warnings

sydneybedell's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

Content Warnings

ayoderable's review against another edition

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funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

Much more lighthearted than I thought it would be based on the cover and the description. Very high level of snark. Interesting premise. Not very much subtext- all text

Content Warnings