Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Sunburn

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth

50 reviews

elisabethkatee's review against another edition

4.25

to be with her is a sin, to be without her is a tragedy.

Holy jesus christ. this book took me a few chapters to get into but once i did oh man did it hit hard. i related to Lucy in SOO many ways and highlighted so many phrases and thoughts from her. this deep attachment to susannah and the feeling that she was some sort of god, until she realised susannah saw her in exactly the same way. it was so beautiful. the ending chapters TORE me apart and the ambiguous ending left me wanting more. i’m honestly so glad i persevered with this read cause BOY was it worth it!
i highly recommend to any girls out there who have ever fallen for another girl and felt so deeply entrenched in their desire that nothing could be stronger. i am crumbling at this book… in the best way possible.

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wisewayfarer's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.0

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grace_paz's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring relaxing medium-paced

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

4.75

OH HOW THIS DESTROYED ME

What a beautiful piece of literature this was. So emotional and compelling. So simple but passionate. The sweetest, plainest moments are transformed into raw and heartfelt images that are dashed across the page in bursts of red and orange hues. But it didn’t feel over emphatic which is something that can be a concern. It’s a perfect balance of fervour and simplicity that tie together.

“It makes perfect sense to want to be inside her mouth, to be torn to pieces by her…”

Our narrator, Lucy, is lost in obsession and this is clear throughout. All you want for her is happiness and yet she is self-sacrificing. And rightfully so, she’s a young adult. But there isn’t a hatred for her at all like in so much literature where the narrator is innocent and making mistakes. You pity her, you can understand the choices she makes, the decisions, the moments where she says something or does something questionable.

“It might be beautiful to look at, but it is abysmal to exist in; a sweet, sad dream. And while I think of a million places that I would rather be, I fear that I will never have the nerve to leave.”

You feel so strongly for this person who is bursting with love and passion and is forced, by others around her and at times herself, to push those feeling down.

Set in the lonely but peaceful countryside, I found I related a lot to how Lucy felt, especially when I was her age. Her fear to truly leave home and in turn, Savannah, is so heartbreaking. She is constantly drawn back to this place and person of familiarity and comfort, even though both aspects are strenuous and complicated.

“‘I used to stare at your mouth so much.’

I tell her. She puts her arms around my neck.

‘You should have said. I’m always staring at you.’”

The longing in this novel is so visceral. You are wholly encapsulated in Lucy’s obsession and love for Savannah. It is so innocent and endearing to read as someone who has also experienced the love of and for another woman. There are parts that simply made me cry over the yearning and then the fall into intense love that sapphic couples share.

The ending is so aggravating but also I understand why it is done, Lucy and, us as readers, are left with a tale unfinished and untold, forever stuck unknowing whether the two young lovers work it all out.

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cecereads__'s review against another edition

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4.5

Sunburn is both literal and metaphorical with the mc and first person pov, Lucy, experiencing the gloriously bright sun that’s making her come alive, and the subsequent redness/mark and constant sting that can follow if we’re not careful; if we don’t take care of ourselves enough.

I really loved this. An Irish setting is always going to get me.

A sapphic coming-of-age story including all that comes with first love (eagerness, starry-eyes, forevers, intensity, etc) and with small-town mindsets and religious upbringings.

I know that Martin wasn’t told until the end for a reason. He’s a gem btw. I still wonder what he would have said about it being a shared secret he was in on to stop his heart from breaking too. Idk. Obviously Lucy was not ready to deal with her feelings even when time told her how she would still grow out of the town and the ppl with or without Susannah

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adamparrishlover's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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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andlovetoowillruinus's review

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5.0

(vibrating in place with gritted teeth and blood streaming from my eyes) i’m so normal abt this book

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jo_lzr's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense

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

4.25

The prose in the book is very poetic. This book describes love and sorrow and portrays everything in a realistic way. Both Lucy and Susannah have their flaws but they are also both humans, trying to navigate life and out of being teenagers into adulthood. Do not read this book if you don't like reading about protagonists who make wrong or immoral decisions.

It's heartbreaking how having no choice but to survive can turn a person into someone they don't even recognize. I think that this story could have also worked as Lucy's villain origin story. I liked the happy ending, I just wish we could have gotten to see more of them now that they have met again. Though, I do understand that it will take them time to get together, since they're both different now.

Recommended songs to listen while reading this book:
Altar - Kehlani
Melt - Kehlani
Making The Bed - Olivia Rodrigo
Not Strong Enough - Boygenius
Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan
loml - Taylor Swift
So Long London - Taylor Swift
Guilty As Sin? - Taylor Swift
illicit affairs - Taylor Swift
How Did It End? - Taylor Swift
my tears ricochet - Taylor Swift
Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? - Taylor Swift
Anti-Hero - Taylor Swift
High Infidelity - Taylor Swift
Is It Over Now? - Taylor Swift
Say Don't Go - Taylor Swift
I Know Places - Taylor Swift
cardigan - Taylor Swift
Dear Reader - Taylor Swift
tolerate it - Taylor Swift
coney island - Taylor Swift
ivy - Taylor Swift
October Passed Me By - girl in red

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