Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Girlcrush by Florence Given

10 reviews

thebookishowl4's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Misogyny

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

shaylees's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

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

1.25

This book felt unfocused, and like it couldn’t decide whether it wanted to spoonfeed and spell out all the most basic ideas of white western feminism or force you to read between the lines to have any understanding of what’s actually meant by the words on the page. Rose was really loveable,

and I would have loved to see more of them, or at least have their story wrapped up in some way?

, the settings for parties and sex scenes were very engaging and immersive, and the premise has a lot of promise. However, this book needed a few more rounds of editing, a lot more fleshing out, and maybe a sensitivity reader or some more research on the queer nightlife scene. That said, I am definitely interested in seeing what this author does in the future with a bit more experience! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, and Alcohol

emminkirjakasa's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-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? Yes

4.25

Absolutely loved the start of the book, and that i would give 5 stars. The ending loses one star, since i think there was a bit too much going on. If the book was just about Eartha, Rose, and Mona, dating girls for the first time, trying to find yourself after coming out, then i would have loooved the book. When all the shit went down in the last 1/3 of the book, i lost the one star. 

+ Bisexual representation and great examples of biphobia that was easy to relate as a bi girl.
+ Non-binary character!! Always love that!
+ You could feel Florence through the book. The music, the apartment, the pink hair.
+ Shows just how toxic social media can be.
+ The descriptions of depression were extremely accurate.

- Director's notes felt a bit out of context for the book.
- Ending felt a bit rushed and many characters just got left out from the story.

- The sexual assault storyline felt a bit rushed and the fact that it was just hinted and not actually said out loud made if feel a bit weird.

I forgot that the book was set in 2030 and actually didn't make any difference to the story that i just thought it was a 2023 but in alternative universe where Instagram is Wonderland, Tinder is Fire and London is Olympia.

I will be reading the new book that comes out next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

Minor: Homophobia

isabella18's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

itsgeesus's review against another edition

This was a DNF for me. Not once, but twice. The first time around I got further in, but in both instances, this genuinely made me so frustrated. This is very much a fanaticising of Given's life and experiences, and this is quite clear if you've been following her on social media for quite some time. Obviously, that wasn't the issue, sort of. The issue for me was the superiority complex that is force-fed down your throat in every. single. page. The idea is that men are a vicious entity here to steal women of their individuality and worth and that our only existence is to please men. Eartha's boyfriend is the epitome of this, and it got to the point where I was so uncomfortable with the attitude being communicated to me. Now I've absolutely adored Given's non-fiction novel Women Don't Owe You Pretty, and will easily devour feminist discourse novels and essays, but Girlcrush was neither. It was a mess of a rant that tried to paint women as the superior, and it didn't work. I really tried to enjoy the queer explorations of this, but even then, the way these themes were communicated wasn't done right. Ironically, a book written by a queer woman still somehow fetishised WLW relationships and female sexuality, and this was not even 50 pages in. It just got to the point where I was genuinely getting angry at how this was written, which was a shame because the premise of the novel is great, and I was really looking forward to reading it when the novel came out. 

All I can say is yikes. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia and Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia and Rape

bookb1itch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicidal thoughts

elllav's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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: Mental illness and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia

laurabru92's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

1.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

scottiesandbooks's review against another edition

challenging fast-paced

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

0.25

“It’s coordinated mysogyny wrapped in a dazzling bow, using us as its mouthpiece to trick us all into thinking it’s validating” 

This book is internalised homophobia and stereotyping wrapped in a dazzling bow, using us as its mouthpiece to trick us all into thinking it’s validating.

Ok *cracks knuckles*

This author has tried to do something pretty wonderful; use their voice to promote feminism, queerness, bisexuality and show us that social media is detrimental to our health and well-being… and that the world is still controlled by men.

What the author has succeeded to do is write a book of two halves.  The second half succeeds in the message….. but you have to get through a very problematic, May HARMFUL first half to get the message.  And by then it’s lost.

This is not the queer affirming book it claims to be.  This is a book doused in queer stereotypes and harmful language.  As a bisexual woman I found it littered with biphobia and severe problems around identity, femininity, masculinity and many issues catered towards our non binary siblings too.  

This not only hurts queer people who pick it up, making them feel invalidated and ridiculed… it also confirms that all the stereotypes about us in the queer community are correct…… it doesn’t help cis het people understand us at all.  It lets them know that it’s ok to poke fun at the queer community.  That it’s ok to use the word “fag” in a jokey way, that it’s ok to ask “so who’s the gay one?” (I.E. the man) in a same sex relationship.  

I understand that some books include the above references to prove a point.  To show that these words, phrases and stereotypes are wrong.  This book has not done that.  And for that I will never forgive it.

This could have been something special.  Instead I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.  Ever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, and Lesbophobia

garynoplastie's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Lesbophobia