Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

15 reviews

ocean's review

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring 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

This book is stunning, expertly written, and heartbreaking. It brings the characters to life so vividly that it's hard not to love them and want the best for them. This story is raw in its humanity. The humanity of its characters is constantly reduced by the world, its systems, and its people who have failed them in every way, but they remain human even when going on feels like the hardest thing imaginable. Please read the content warnings for this book as it is a very heavy read.

CW: homophobia, transphobia, racism, classism, sexism, sexual assault (children and adults), graphic depictions of sex, drug abuse, drug use, addiction, death/dying/mortality/funerals, graphic depictions of HIV/AIDs related complications, suicide, murder, blood, strangulation, cheating, use of homophobic slurs, use of sexual slurs, gun violence, nudity, trauma, sexual violence, eating disorders, dysphoria, child abuse, child abandonment, homelessness (children and adults), violence, depiction of pornography, incest, kidnapping, mention of prisons and prison labor, predatory police, sexual predators, sexually explicit language

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Vomit

weelittlemouse's review

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is horrible. Not in a bad writing way, but in a this book deals with so much death and abuse that it's so hard to read. I would have never read this book if it was a required reading. And even then, I wanted to drop it. The beginning moved so slow and was so hard to read about all the struggles that the characters went through, but about 1/4 to 1/2 way through, it started to pick up a lot more. 
I've read a lot of reviews saying that this book was derivitive of Paris is Burning. I haven't seen that film so I can't actually say whether that's true or not. But I did talk to my sister who has seen Paris is Burning, she says that a lot of people, because LGBTQ media has been so oppressed that people often compare many works to Paris is Burning. Again, I can't speak to the subject. But I can say that as an English Lit major, that every book has 6 degrees of seperation of either other books or some other form of media or history. I've also read that people think that there wasn't enough mention of drag life. I don't think that this book was supposed to be about drag life during the 80s. I think that it was supposed to be about life as a gay/trans person in New York during the 80s. I would also argue that it had a lot to do with class and race as much as it did with gender and sexuality. 
If you are a person who are easily triggered, don't read this book. I don't think that there's enough time in the world to write all the trigger warnings that would be need for this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Grief, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Incest, Alcoholism, Excrement, and Dementia

atariakana's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is an incredibly compelling, wonderful book. I know the tags and content warnings can make it seem really dark, but there is a lot of light and life in these characters, and they have a lot of fun. Once I started, I couldn't put it down. Absolutely worth a look for anyone who is interested in learning a little about the history and culture of drag and/or is looking for a rich (if not exactly lighthearted) lgbtq-focused story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Drug abuse

Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual violence

The book is set in the 1980s and there is homophobia and transphobia typical for the time, although none from/between the main characters.

More than one character dies of AIDS-related complications. One character is assumed to have been strangled to death while performing sex work.

misssleepless's review

emotional sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual content

Minor: Excrement, Hate crime, Incest, Suicide, and Vomit

moonyreadsbystarlight's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My head is still reeling from finishing this. Not only did this book completely emotionally break me, it did so while completely immersing me in the atmosphere of the era and in the lives of the characters. This book goes between perspectives, showing the lives of several gay men and trans women as they begin to weave together and fray apart through time. While many parts of the book are peppered with wit, it does not shy away from the dark realities of queer people during the 80's and 90's. There are so many nuances to Cassara's writing throughout the story, details that he changes as time passes that really makes the story more immersive and more devastating. From setting to characters to theme, this is a brilliant work of art and a beautiful homage to those we have lost. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Suicide