Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall

6 reviews

elb22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

masterofmusix's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

5.0

This book tells an incredible story. It provides a visual depiction of what the slave trade actually looked like. It describes the story of the authors journey to find the truth about her ancestors past. It is as dark and haunting as it is illuminating. Rebecca Hall is a hero for writing this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, War, Gun violence, Racism, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Slavery, Blood, Genocide, and Sexual harassment

robinks's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

I didn’t like the illustrations, and the layout of some of the pages made the words difficult to follow. But overall, it was both heartbreaking and frustrating to read about lost history and how it repeats itself today in racist patriarchy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Grief, Sexism, Gun violence, Death, Trafficking, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Child death, and Torture

Minor: Pregnancy, Blood, and Suicide

cheesy_gordita_grack's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

It was pretty amazing to receive the information in this book in this visual format. The illustrator's style almost vibrates and moves on the page, and Wake resonated with me the most when it was at its most personal. I loved that Dr. Hall's own history and experiences were woven into the wider history of women-led slave revolts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Minor: Murder, Rape, and Torture

melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an arc of this book.

Wake is a graphic novel that is a combination of nonfiction about a historian's research into Women Led Slave Revolts and heavily researched historical recreations of events.  So much of the history Hall was researching was unavailable to the point she had to extrapolate from the research she had to get imaginings of some of the events she wanted to portray.

This story was very hard to read because of the content, but extremely informative and well-written. The illustrations were beautifully and poignantly done and I loved that it was a mix of Hall's research as well as recreations of what she was researching. The overlap of her subject matter and what she herself was doing was very meaningful.

This book gave me a lot to think about and I definitely think it did the job that Hall set out to do.

Pub Date: June 1, 2021

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Death, Murder, Confinement, and Torture

papercraftalex's review

dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

This is a difficult book to read, but very worth it. It sheds light on an aspect of history that is often washed over or downright hidden in the American education system, while also showing both the microaggressions and trauma that come from being a Black slavery historian. It is a powerful story and one that should be required reading. I'm not the biggest fan of this kind of art style, but it works well for the seriousness of this book.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence