Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Bread the Devil Knead by Lisa Allen-Agostini

54 reviews

0hannah0banana0's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

Please read the TW first. The book is very much centered around the protagonist’s trauma. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Miscarriage, Incest, Domestic abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, and Violence

rachel_bunting93's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Hate crime, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Violence, Racism, Murder, Grief, and Death of parent

nokvi's review

dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Amazing book written completely in trini dialect. The Bread the Devil Knead takes us into an deep dive into Trinidadian life as we go thru the motions with Alethea as she deals with the demons of her past and present. Abuse from her childhood has followed her into adulthood till that is all she knows. And the lightheart manner via which these heavy topics are delivered is an icing on the cake as it is reflective of how someone in the situation may view the matter.

No notes 10/10

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Infidelity, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Incest, and Adult/minor relationship

sleepybunnyreading's review

This book feels like it has the making of a compelling piece honestly, I'm sure I would have loved it at another time but the dialect of this book and general themes were not what I needed to read at this moment in time. Honestly, it did put me in a bit of a reading slump but that's probably just me being in the wrong place. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence

vera_cologne's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

That was a hard read. I definitely recommend checking the content warnings. I am glad that I read it though, it was very intense and gripping. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Incest, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Violence, and Miscarriage

pomegranateicecream's review

dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, and Violence

sidekicksam's review against another edition

Written almost entirely in Trinidadian Creole, this book follows the life of Alethea, known to some also as Miss Allie or Girlie. About to turn 40, she is in a relationship with a violent man, but comes before the choice of where she wants to go with her life. As we go deeper into the story, more troubling secrets from her past become unveiled, but how will she deal with them? 

I don't want to waste too many words on this review because I'm having a hard time finding the right ones to describe how amazed, inspired and surprised I was about this book. Exploring themes of domestic abuse, generational trauma, colonialism, colorism and friendship, Allen-Agostini writes beautifully and engagingly. She could've written the story over 1.000 pages and I still would have wanted more, but that made it all the more amazing that she did it in less than 250 and it still made me feel so engrossed in the main character and her story. 

Highly recommend. Go read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Rape, Death of parent, Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Violence, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Alcohol, and Incest

samants's review

dark emotional 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

4.75

Phenomenal. The dialect is lyrical, and I enjoyed the challenge of reading something not written for me. The book is a portrait of abuse and therefore heavy and dark, but also stunning, and I adored the main character. The ending is wide open, and I love it.

Do mind the content warnings -- they are real and graphic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual harassment

paochavezgt's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Be careful if you choose to read this book. It can be very triggering. It is heart wrenching. 

This was an excruciating read. I feel physically and emotionally ill. By all means I understand how powerful her writing and storytelling is. There are certain topics and storylines I'm simply not able to digest properly. The dread that i feel for Ali is uncanny, I hope she gets to surround herself with kind women, from this point forward. Although, I do question wether a victim of abuse would still enjoy certain things from their abuser, I believe reading this experience as hard as it is, gives a voice to survivors. Not a feminist voice, if I might say.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Incest, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Violence, and Xenophobia

sarumi's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Rape, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault