Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Brown Girl In The Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

8 reviews

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Drug use

Minor: Ableism, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Racial slurs

wordsareworlds's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

This book had all the qualities of an excellent fable crafted into the modern dystopia with an incredibly evocative voice. Hopkinson wove in so much growth for Ti-Jeanne in a pretty short story, and the length felt just right for the the telling of myths, the ones where the scenery changes to fit the times but the core is the same, and the lessons remain true regardless of the era.

I found the worldbuilding slightly confusing, but that has to do with my own ignorance of both specific Caribbean cultural references and the city of Toronto. That being said, it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. Hopkinson's prose is evocative and impactful, and the ways she described the magic were both awe inspiring and terrifying.

Highly recommend for people looking for a fast paced, exciting, and in many ways heart breaking, coming of age story with strong themes of motherhood, family, and holding onto culture in a place that is often hostile to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, Child death, Body horror, Gun violence, Violence, Torture, Medical content, and Child abuse

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, and Domestic abuse

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

'Brown Girl in the Ring' by Nalo Hopkinson is an engaging folklore filled novel set in nearfuture Toronto. 
Ti-Jeanne lives in postriots Toronto with her grandmother. Her mother disappeared when she was young and Ti-Jeanne has been working to find her place in the world. When Tony, the father of her child, comes to Ti-Jeanne's grandmother for help after the local crime boss taps him for a horrific project, Ti-Jeanne begins to learn more about her grandmother's spirits and how the violence in the city is tied to her own family. 
I am amazed that this was Hopkinson's debut novel. The prose is pristine and evocative. The characters are fully fledged and engaging. The reader is plopped down into a world that feels real. I love how Hopkinson has mixed Caribbean folklore with a nearfuture Toronto setting to create something completely new and unique. There is so much that happens in this book over a relatively short amount of time and yet it is easy to follow and exciting. I cannot wait to read more of Hopkinson's work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Blood, Murder, Violence, Torture, Gun violence, Gore, Classism, Child death, Death of parent, and Body horror

Moderate: Addiction, Abandonment, and Drug use

scarroll178's review against another edition

adventurous sad medium-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

4.5

It’s a good plot, but I sort of wish the main character had done more. The book builds her up to be so clever, but the most “clever” thing she does is convince this entity that wants to kill her… to kill her slowly so she has more time to get away. Which works, sure, but I wouldn’t say it’s all that clever.

Otherwise, I liked it a lot! The storyline was really interesting, especially the domino effect Uttley caused with her whole “harm no living creature” political stance that resulted in a lot of people people being harmed lol. I loved the way the author resolved certain things that happened, like

Mami’s heart basically taking over Uttley.

 

The book also has interesting themes on forgiveness and atonement that I wish the writer would’ve delved into more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Violence, and Child abuse

Minor: Transphobia

solenodon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Body horror, Blood, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Grief, Confinement, and Child death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Death of parent, Sexism, Racism, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

chloebethx_'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.5

Nalo Hopkinson does an amazing job of mixing family, hope and spirituality in this amazing tale following Ti-Jeanne, a woman living with her grandmother in a forgotten city. I found that the first half of this book to be slow but once the plot started to kick in it went very quickly and I could not put it down!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

menomica's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

I don’t normally like reading dystopian novels bc it’s usually a form of political critique and it comes off as  speculative fiction, which doesn’t really spark that much joy for me, or it’s just a back-drop for the very boring and white characters (i.g. The Hunger Games or Divergent). But… this one here very much intrigued me. I like the aspect of Haitian mythology. The story is very well-made. It starts off a bit slow and then after Chapter 5 Miss Hopkins will not let you know peace. Just panic and stress and vibes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Murder, and Torture

Minor: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Gun violence, Grief, Excrement, and Child death

mothdan's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Torture, and Body horror

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, and Sexual content

forced drug use and a POV character has to witness someone being skinned alive