Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

If You Want to Make God Laugh by Bianca Marais

4 reviews

gibetal's review against another edition

reflective slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Rape, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Death, Classism, Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, Grief, and Hate crime

mabonner's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Hate crime

Minor: Alcoholism

introvertinterrupted's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use, Vomit, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Grief, Xenophobia, and Violence

claudiamacpherson's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

In the mid-1990s in post-apartheid South Africa, three women are brought together by their difficult circumstances. Zodwa is a Zulu woman who became pregnant after her rape. Ruth and Delilah are estranged sisters who are complete opposites, drawn back to the farm where they grew up. Despite how different the three woman seem outwardly, they are tied together by circumstance and eventually common experience and love.

I read Hum If You Don't Know the Words, also by Bianca Marais, a few years ago and was excited to read this books. While If You Want to Make God Laugh is definitely darker, it shares the fascinating characters and beautiful story-weaving that I loved in Marais' first book. I liked watching the story to unfold, as new details were added and backstories were filled in. I especially liked being able to see the two sisters from each others' points of view, which highlighted how each of them misjudged the other and allowed us as readers to understand both better. I often have trouble with dark themes and violence, but I thought that Marais did a good job telling the difficult parts of the story (particularly the rape scenes) without dwelling on details.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just my judgement of how happy the ending is because I always wish someone would tell me this before I read books):

The ending is definitely bittersweet! I was expecting a true happy ending because of reading Hum If You Don't Know the Words, so I was a bit surprised by the twist (for lack of a better word) at the end. Despite the sad parts, for the most part the ending felt fitting and I was satisfied after finishing the book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Vomit, and Child abuse

The book is set during the early-mid 1990s, in South Africa immediately post-apartheid, so racism is a major theme. There are also heavy descriptions of HIV/AIDS, both the medical problems and the stigma surrounding the disease.

Both Zodwa and Delilah, two of the three main characters, are raped, and though neither rape is described in detail, they are central plots points and are referred to throughout the book. Zodwa is raped "correctively" because she is a lesbian. Ruth fakes a suicide attempt at the very beginning of the book and has addiction problems (specifically alcoholism) throughout, but is able to get clean in the last half(ish) of the book. Both Zodwa and Mandla are HIV positive and face medical complications as a result.