Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat

4 reviews

missbear's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.0

I picked this book specifically because I was looking for a book set in Haiti and written by a Haitian author, in order to fulfill a challenge prompt. I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about Haitian literature and had no ideas for what to read (well, except for The Kingdom of This World, which I read in school), so I had to do some googling to find something that would work.

Krik? Krak! was an interesting read — a collection of short story that were somewhat interwoven, which I didn't realize when I chose it. I think I would have preferred a regular novel, because it's just hard for a whole collection of short stories to be winners! I did quite like some of the stories in this collection and found others to be a bit more forgettable.

Overall, this collection did have a distinct emotional tone, a sort of dark twist of resignation and hope. I liked this tone, but I think something about Danticat's writing style keeps the characters seeming just a little distant, as though their suffering numbs them slightly to the world. But that's not to say that individual moments from these stories won't stick with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Animal cruelty

gilnean's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death, War, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Incest, Death of parent, Animal death, Pedophilia, Ableism, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Infidelity, Child death, Blood, Classism, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Police brutality, Misogyny, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Sexism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Genocide, Alcoholism, Vomit, Suicide, Medical trauma, Slavery, and Cancer

bitterseason's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

• Children of the Sea: 4 ☆
• Nineteen Thirty-Seven: 3.25 ☆
• A Wall of Fire Rising: 3 ☆
• Night Women: 2.25 ☆
• Between the Pool and the Gardenias: 3 ☆
• The Missing Peace: 3.75 ☆
• Seeing Things Simply: 3 ☆
• New York Day Women: 3 ☆
• Caroline’s Wedding: 3.25 ☆
• Women Like Us: 3 ☆
• In the Old Days: 2 ☆

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Suicide, Gore, Physical abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Incest, Rape, Sexism, and War

Minor: Abandonment, Miscarriage, Slavery, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Excrement, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Infertility, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

gingerrachelle's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I continue to be amazed by how Danticat can write the most beautiful words on the most brutal subjects. She emotionally destroys me only to put me back together in the next sentence. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death