A review by eirill
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

5.0

James Baldwin is such a good writer. He was able to portray every scene and every feeling of this book with so much depth. I usually don't enjoy books that much if I dislike most of its characters, but somehow that didn’t really matter in Giovanni’s room. All the characters' faults were well depicted and very realistic for their situation. I hated the sexism, but it felt like a natural consequence from living during such sexist and homophobic times. I thought the internalised homophobia was very well portrayed. Especially how David was so affected by shame in every interaction with Giovanni, that he couldn’t admit his feelings until everything between them was over. The similarity between the state of Giovanni’s room and the state of their relationship was a nice addition; it being hidden away, messy and always somewhat broken.