Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Deportation, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Alcohol
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Don't let this book intimidate you like it did me. It's surprisingly approachable for having such a highbrow plot. The prose is wonderful without being purple, and the plot is moderately-paced, verging on slow, but never drags or feels like it should have been slimmed down.
This was such a good, complete story. The themes of colonialism and appropriation and racism were deep and well-discussed while still being ingrained within the plot and not shoehorned in. Such a wonderful, unique story told in a wonderful manner. I'm probably going to recommend it to every single reader I know.
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation
Moderate: Death, Sexism, War
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, Colonisation
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Classism
Minor: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Vomit, Islamophobia, War
Graphic: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Sexual harassment
Minor: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Slavery
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Death of parent, War
Graphic: Child abuse, Racism
Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Classism
First of all let's talk about the translation itself. Other than the book being considerably longer (about 25% more pages) I couldn't see any big issue or thing that didn't come across right. The book uses phrases from many different languages but even if you don't know these languages the meaning is always explained either right after or through a footnote.
Especially in the earlier parts of the book there are a lot of footnotes and I can definitely see how that could put people off of reading this book. I did not do that to me. Honestly the science of translation part and how there is always something being lost when a text is translated was the favorite part of this book for me. The whole "balancing act" of getting a point across different languages even though the available words in the target language might not have the exact same meaning was/is fascinating to me.
I felt like the translators did a good job here but I obviously can't be certain since I have not read the book in the language it's originally written in.
Character wise we get a compelling main character and through him and his small group of friends the really dark themes about this book (Slavery, Racism, Child abuse - just to name a few) get portrayed very well. His development felt decently well portrayed although there was one moment where he did like a complete 180 but that was after a very tragic and traumatic experience so that does somewhat check out.
Plotwise it felt very predictable especially in the second half of the book I saw all the major plot points coming. But on the other hand that also felt natural to the story the book was trying to tell and I enjoyed (for the most part) how dark and emotional (especially towards the ending) the book got.
Overall I did enjoy this book but did not love it. I think this was the first historical fiction book I read (maybe The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue but that wasn't really that much about History) and I don't feel like it to necessarily pick up more. Mainly because the dark themes feel much to real in a story like this and cut really deep. History is just brutal, that's a fact. And yeah, I certainly prefer lighter stories in general.
Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Slavery
Moderate: Sexism