Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

37 reviews

im_eebee's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

1.75

Beautifully written, but I hate the main character with a burning passion. I need him to get over himself yesterday. All he does is hurt people. I don’t like books where the main character is so deeply unaware of how their actions affect others. Some people will find that as the highlight of this book, but I find it frustrating to read. I’ll definitely check out Baldwin’s other work because the writing style was the only part of this that I liked, but this was a miss for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Death of parent, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

michaelion's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

Automatic negative points for being pro-Paris / pro-France and using the French language. AUTOMATIC !!!!!! I can't help my dislike, nay I say hatred of those baguettes!

Negative points also for the main characters, all characters being white. I understand that the story couldn't be told without them being white. It's just hard for me to relate to white stories. I don't understand them. Usually when I read them I think "Okay but you don't have real problems. Why are you complaining?" Which is only halfway a joke. 55% a jape.

I did relate to the main character however. For future me reading this, you just broke up with your first girlfriend. You only related in some, a few ways, not completely, but it was noticeable.

Despite my criticisms the writing was lovely. It feels like thee queer/gay book that mothered or grandmothered queer books. I loved the brief analysis into gender and heteronorms. It came out of nowhere but it really stood out. Every thing you feel for the first time has already been felt by the rest of humanity a billion times over. I also love when classics can still be relatable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Biphobia, Confinement, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Car accident, and Death of parent

sohva's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Beautiful, still makes me think of what it is wanting to say about love, life and home.

My only gripe woth this book was that the female characters were a bit... weird.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

shaynicole's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Death of parent

flapjackzs_'s review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Misogyny, Vomit, Death of parent, Outing, and Classism

berthe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, and Toxic friendship

zara89's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical trauma, Car accident, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Death and Death of parent

samcanuel's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

James Baldwin is an extremely talented writer and in this book he tackled many difficult themes. I truly disliked almost every character, but I still found myself completely invested in their stories. I really liked the structure of the plot itself, going back and forth between the current time and the flashbacks to give context. This story is heartbreaking, but Baldwin’s telling of it is perfection.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent

iheartapolloxxi's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

Baldwin‘s effability to describe such a tumultuous relationship is admirable. The reader is put on the front lines of David‘s conflict-driven reality. The use of Giovanni‘s room as a metaphor for their doomed-from-the-start relationship is brilliant and truly could have only been pulled off by a legend like Baldwin. Amazing book, taught me a lot. Everyone should read this at least once in their lives. 💯

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

kers_tin's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, and Death of parent