Reviews with content warning for Violence - Brown Girl In The Ring

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Brown Girl In The Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

16 reviews

margolovie89's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

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

3.75

The story of the women from the West Indies who live in apocalyptic Toronto was a solid story line. I had my phone out to take note of the language and spirits. The vocabulary was a bit difficult to understand, but was interesting. The ending was a bit hard to understand with so much going on and so many characters, but reading it slowly and taking notes helped. I’ll defiantly read another book by Nalo Hopkinson.

Content Warnings

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

wordsareworlds's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

rorikae's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

scarroll178's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

kbhenrickson's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I loved this book. I loved the incorporation of Caribbean beliefs (which were mostly new to me), the dystopian Toronto setting, and the main female characters (who irritated me with their choices at times, but those choices still felt realistic). The dialect took me a bit to get used to, but it didn't detract from the story for me. (I normally choose audiobooks for stories with a lot of dialect or names I'm unfamiliar with, but I didn't this time.) There were some horrible parts that were really horrible, but I thought they fit with the story and weren't gratuitous. I'm glad to have finally read this one after having it on my to-read list for a long time.

Content Warnings