Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable

14 reviews

marslotus's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

• 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

4.75

I really really love the theme throughout this novel of misremembering formative events, such a real thing that can happen so often. I also love how imperfect Amanda is, a coming out story doesn't have to be innocent and the complexity of her relationships is so compelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Outing, Bullying, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Transphobia

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Infidelity, and Cursing

Minor: Death of parent and Sexual content

queenkath32's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Outing, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Bullying, and Toxic friendship

clemrain's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-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

2.75

Expressive art, underdeveloped and overwhelming story.

The first third of the book was painful to get through. The second third picked up. And the last third sped through everything.

It took me a month to finish this, and that included me pushing through the first hundred pages over three days, not reading it for a month and completing the rest of the book slowly over two hours.

There was just a lot going on in this story and it would’ve been much better if the story arc spanned volumes instead of just pages of one volume.

I did not enjoy the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Death of parent, Biphobia, Bullying, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Vomit, Grief, and Sexual content

livcbrown's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Religious bigotry, Death, Transphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Deadnaming, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Outing

pinkupengu's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Deadnaming, Outing, Violence, Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Physical abuse

Disrespectful representation on trans individual

vaniavela's review against another edition

emotional 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

I found the art charming and expressive. There is a lot of emotion in their body language and expressions, which brings the story to life, compensating for aspects of the plot that were not to my total liking.

There is a lot of relationship drama in this graphic novel, as well as strong themes of homophobia and transphobia. 

I don't know how to rate it, but it was a decent read.

CW: Graphic=Transphobia, Homophobia, Religious bigotry. Moderate= Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Death of parent. Minor= Bullying, Child abuse, Death 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Deadnaming, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Death, Child abuse, and Bullying

robinks's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.25

Overall, I liked the story and the illustrations. I did not like a lot of the main characters, and this story affirmed my dislike of organized religion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Outing, Sexism, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Bullying, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Dysphoria and Alcohol

Minor: Death, Sexual content, Vomit, and Domestic abuse

the_crooked_neighbor's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

5.0

I am really picky when it comes to graphic novels because I feel like it can be hard for them to really tell a full story. KN8 fills all of my requirements for a perfect graphic novel. It was long enough to tell the story it needed to tell and it had a great art style. I cried a lot- in a good way- because it really had the catharsis that I craved from the setup. I really appreciated that the comfort found in religion was portrayed alongside the harm that can come from it as a queer person. I am so glad I picked this one up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Deadnaming, Abandonment, Bullying, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent and Death

The story handles the homophobia in a satisfying way- it is cathartic by the end. The transphobia- less so, but the characters definitely become less transphobic by the end. If it is not too triggering, I would still recommend the book because I felt that the pain from reading her experiences was overwhelmed by the joy of her acceptance by the end.

hexenlibrarian's review against another edition

emotional inspiring lighthearted 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Religious bigotry, Death, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

wynterwonderland's review

challenging emotional sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Infidelity, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Sexual content