Reviews tagging 'Death'

American Street by Ibi Zoboi

14 reviews

tokagelizard's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

Wow. This is one of those books that grips you and doesn't let go. The writing is amazing, the characters very real. Deserving of the awards it has won.
Sad and an emotional trip, but keeps you on the edge of your seat. I loved the representation of vodou and the magical realism aspects.

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mepereyra6's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5


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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

Really enjoyed this. Def a little tragic towards the end.  Will be checking out more from this author.

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i_hate_grrr's review against another edition

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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

4.75


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gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book really challenged me to examine my internalized biases against characters who are unlikeable to me. Fabiola made some absolutely buckwild errors in judgement when faced with difficult challenges, but Ibi Zoboi does a fantastic job of reminding readers of her situation as both a child isolated from their parental figure and a new immigrant to the U.S. American Street felt like a raw and emotional examination of not only the racism and police brutality faced by Black Americans but also how that can layer with immigrant xenophobia. Though this story focused on Fabiola's experiences, my favorite part of the book was definitely the small moments at the end of chapters, where we'd get a slice of another character's thoughts/perspectives; these sections felt so poetically lush with emotion, and many of the lines felt so heartfelt and impactful. 

My only criticism is that the pacing of the story felt a little disjointed. The ending comes in quickly and violently, without leaving readers much space to sit with the events before concluding the story. I wish the conclusion had been shifted a bit earlier into the book so that the ending could've had room to breathe and settle with all the characters but otherwise, I really enjoyed this read though please please please check content warnings before reading!!!

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sarahsch006's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0


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templetoncecelia's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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brookey8888's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was very good! I didn’t really know what it was about when I picked it up. I listened to the audio book and it was really well done. I liked learning more about Haitian culture. I really liked Fabiola as a main character. I think this is also an important read about immigration, family and a few other things. 

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kshertz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This story about a Haitian immigrant losing her mother to a detention center and going to stay with her cousins is really heartbreaking. She’s forced with facing a lot of the realities of America for people who are Black and thrown into it at a formative time. I thought it was very true to reality and very sad. It was hard to read and know that while fictional, this very well could be someone’s true story. It’s definitely calling to do better and hard look at community. 

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this_is_lee's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a heavy read but an important one. I'm glad I read this now rather than when I got it years back. The story that Zoboi tells is one that carries such cultural importance, I have a picture of Culture that is more clear after reading this book. Everything pulled me in and I didn't want to leave any crumbs.

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