Reviews tagging 'Torture'

As de picas by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

24 reviews

taviarz's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

Definitely reads like a TV show. I just wish we had more scenes of Chiamaka and Devon actually talking to each other and building a friendship. Also thought that maybe the story was trying to cover too much? Like there needed to be moments of relief at points. Overall I thought it was entertaining and had a good discussion on structural racism for the intended age group.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, Sexual content, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Classism, Racial slurs, Car accident, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Torture

Moderate: Gun violence and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit, Death, and Suicide attempt

booksbyantheia's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Paranoia, empatía, conocimiento.

(Reseña en construcción)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Medical content, Racism, Blood, Bullying, Slavery, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

bandysbooks's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

This was one of the most intense books I’ve read in ages. It has dark academia vibes mixed with horror and psychological thriller in the vein of Get Out. This book induced so much anxiety in me and left me on the edge of my seat. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Bullying, Car accident, Classism, Grief, Toxic friendship, Violence, Racism, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Outing, Stalking, Torture, Gaslighting, and Homophobia

karareads100's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

This is more of a trigger warning, do not read this book if you are sensitive to topics about deep racism and homophobia (I’m mainly taking to black people, queer people *also mainly black queer people)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Outing, Bullying, Racial slurs, Torture, Murder, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, and Grief

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Gun violence, Violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Triggering

tahjah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Torture

emmasbookshelf27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

extremely dark book. know that going in. The characters are so well developed. Probably the most well developed out of all the books I have read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Outing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

brokenbodybitch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book so much but I have such a bad book hangover from this im struggling to make my points so…
- I loved the writing style, it was so well written and detailed and descriptive that you really just get sucked into the story and the characters
- I LOVED the gossip girl element of it, made it very stressful

The way the gossip girl thing turned into a massive generational organization (reminding me of the way/the company series by j a huss) was so smart and creative

 
- I really like how they talked about their queer identities 
- I seriously just couldn’t keep up I kept thinking I was catching on and then it would twist and get bigger and more intense

Seriously can’t recommend this book enough just please check trigger warnings since it does deal with sensitive issues  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

notabookseller's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

holy fucking shit, y’all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Stalking, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Torture

Minor: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

taelights's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I really loved this book. I was so stressed towards the whole third part of the book but I had such a good time reading it. The mystery was so fucked up but fascinating and I was so deserperate the whole time to get to the end and find out all the answers. There were so many good twists to this mystery. Some of them I guessed while others genuinely surprised me. 

I adored both of the main characters. I felt so bad for them throughout the book and was constantly worried for their safety. 

Devon I loved from the start. He felt so real and I really enjoyed his characterization. I felt so bad for him throughout the book because he deserved so much better with everything in his life. My past self could also relate to some of his struggles relating to his sexuality. 

It took me awhile to come around to Chiamaka. I hated her at first because I usually hate "mean popular girl" type characters. But the more I learned about her and started to see her as more than that stereotype I began to really love her character and care about her a lot. 

Also I absolutely adored Terrell and enjoyed Andre's character as well. 

I loved the representation of having two gay and bi black teens as the main characters. Plus having a few prominent side characters also be black queer teens was also very refreshing. 

I really hope this author puts out more books in the future because I would love to read more by her especially if she hopefully writes more queer black main characters in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Murder, Police brutality, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

lauren_mizzi's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Torture, and Toxic friendship