Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg

23 reviews

babyfacedoldsoul's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

Grateful to have sat down and read this seminal text. People are not kidding when they say it can be a rough read. I found the first third or so to be the hardest because the protagonist is still a minor and some really horrific things happen. Watching Jess grow up and all that comes with growing up was such a gift. The characters in this book are beautiful and complex and watching them live out their lives was such a gift. This book gave me a lot to think about and a myriad of emotions. I recommend checking out the content warnings in general, and a heads up that chapter 25 features a lot of dead naming. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Classism, Murder, Mental illness, Homophobia, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Misogyny

Minor: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, and Deadnaming

rhiannonhoward's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Rape, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, Classism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Racism

oh_bother's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? No

5.0

I have so many feelings about this book. Gratitude, sadness, reverence, rage, guilt. Mostly gratitude, to Leslie for writing this beautiful story that so mirrored her life, and to all of the queer and trans people who came before me and fought so hard for the things I tend to take for granted in my sweet little queer bubble.
 I was surprised by how tender this story was. I was expecting more rage and sorrow, maybe. But Jess is such a beautifully complex and lovable character. I just wanted everything to turn out ok for her. Every time she was happy the world stepped in and gave her more pain. Her growth and strength are inspiring to me. And I’m so glad the ending was hope and light. That is what I am walking away with. Hope and love and light. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Homophobia, Violence, Racism, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Sexism, Outing, Murder, Misogyny, and Hate crime

Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Deadnaming, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

Minor: Suicide

q_bert13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

A great work of speculative fiction- retelling the many real experiences of queer and gender diverse people during the mid/late 20th century. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Body shaming, Deadnaming, Classism, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, and Domestic abuse

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Grief, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Deadnaming, Violence, Medical content, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Outing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Bullying, Classism, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, and Racism

quinn24's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

 didn’t like this as much as I thought I would but I do still like it quite a bit. I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style and I found that the timeline tended to jump forward months or years without warning. It is very clearly a labour of love however, and it is a very interesting and important read. If you are interested in queer history and like historical fiction you would probably like it. It does have a lot of heavy content but I didn’t find it to be gratuitous, it was real and unfortunately necessary to tell an accurate story, (though of course you should check warnings if needed). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Blood, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Cursing, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Alcohol, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, and Police brutality

Moderate: Antisemitism, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Deadnaming

Minor: Classism, Addiction, Medical trauma, Drug use, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

dandydoodle's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

Reading this book 40 years after it’s initial publication doesn’t take away from it’s ability to reach a hand deep into my chest and squeeze my heart until about ready to burst, only to cradle it afterwards. This copy has been sitting on my shelf for years and I cannot believe it took me so long to pick up, but I feel as though it found me when I needed it most. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Bullying, Racism, Transphobia, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Outing, Violence, Homophobia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Death, Cursing, Dysphoria, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Drug use, Addiction, War, and Classism

nothing is gratuitous, once an experience has been touched on it will be referred to again but not in detail. context is merely provided for experiences necessary to communicate the reality of the situations the book describes. this could be triggering, no doubt.

kbweis's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racism, Deadnaming, Sexism, Death, Medical content, Violence, Blood, Classism, Hate crime, Police brutality, Rape, Homophobia, Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

blackberryjambaby's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Grief, Lesbophobia, Classism, Death, Dysphoria, Outing, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Transphobia, Alcohol, Bullying, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

bearystarry's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

Fuck capitalism, fuck white supremacy, fuck the police. Incredibly rewarding read, even if it’s excruciatingly painful sometimes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Outing, Lesbophobia, Emotional abuse, Blood, Animal death, Alcohol, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Violence, Medical trauma, Excrement, Bullying, Body shaming, Antisemitism, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Death, Sexism, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Racism, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Homophobia, Cursing, Child abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Genocide, and War