Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

26 reviews

itsjadenbaby's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I can officially say that a book has  put me in a reading slump for being too good! The novel is perfection. There were lines in this that had my jaw on the floor because of how hard hitting yet beautiful they were.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

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

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

reflective sad fast-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: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense 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

Wasn't sure what I was expecting from this book, but it certainly surpassed all expectations.
I'm embarrassed to admit that I'd never heard of Baldwin until I came across this book in the shelf, but holy mother of Christ, he's an EXCELLENT author.

I really do love how realistic the characters here are. They're all atrocious human beings,  but in a natural way. They're so repressed and internalised everything, that it makes sense how they act like they do. And I must say that, as a queer guy, I was very charmed by Giovanni myself in the beginning, too. Had a strong love-hate relationship with all the characters, but Jacques especially.

The ending was very satisfactory and realistic. I'm terrible at advertising books, but this was seriously an amazing read. Not a happy one, by all means. Lost all hope in my community. But a good read nonetheless. 10/10

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Murder, Outing, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

benegesserwitch's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Classism

amy_q13'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.5

This is my first James Baldwin book and I have always heard that he was an excellent writer who truly understood the human condition, but oof did this classic literature toxic yaoi hit even harder than expected. In all seriousness though, there is so much pain and turmoil and suffering in this book, interspersed with a few moments of tenderness and genuine human connection that will make your heart lift, only to be followed again by trauma, drama, and heartbreak that will drop it back into your stomach. The writing is beautiful and poetic in a straightforward way, and it touches on the themes of isolation, identity, homophobia, and masculinity in a very purposeful manner. The ending in particular is haunting and this book is definitely a testament to the plight of queer people throughout history  that will stick around in my mind for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

honeybeewitched87's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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

Moderate: Biphobia, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

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