Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

26 reviews

witwickan's review against another edition

2.0

God this book sucks. The writing is terrible and all of the characters sound exactly the same. I'm amazed that this book has such good reviews. I'm also amazed that none of them mention the racism and antisemitism and very few mention the misogyny. There are points where it's interesting and it's an easy read but it's definitely not good. It's a classic crappy sci-fi novel though so you can't expect much else.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Antisemitism, Violence, Racism, and War

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Suicide and Torture

arydberg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Child death, War, and Racial slurs

mattyvreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

One of the finest science fiction books I have ever read. I devoured every word.

A timeless and yet surprisingly current exposé of human nature, the internal battle of good and evil, and the decisions we make that affect our life’s course.

The writing itself is beautiful. Not flowery, not pretentious. Straightforward and unassuming. The dialogue is reflective of how people really talk to each other. 

The book brilliantly discusses childhood, loss of innocence, colonization, exploitation, and how man justifies war. It is a work of art.

One of my favorite quotes, though there were many: “He could see Bonzo’s anger growing hot. Hot anger was bad. Ender’s anger was cold, so he could use it. Bonzo’s anger was hot, so it used him.”

The book is rich with plot twists and intrigue. I cannot recommend it enough.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Colonisation, War, Misogyny, Animal death, Violence, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Bullying and Forced institutionalization

lucymaj's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.5

Loved it. However, Orson Scott Card is the worst so don't pay for it.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Racial slurs

aylasultana's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Racial slurs and Racism

miastr's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Animal death, War, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Child death, Racism, and Violence

directorpurry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

1.0

Perpetuates antisemitic conspiracy theories. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Antisemitism, War, Violence, and Genocide

Moderate: Racism and Homophobia

veskumelooni's review against another edition

Unnecessary usageo of the N-word. also found out that the author is homophobic. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Racial slurs

tomel's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

1.5

The best thing I can say about Ender's Game is that it is bad in fascinating ways. There are so many intersections of awful in this book that I will probably never stop thinking about it. But it is an extremely bad book about how

a group of naked racist/misogynist children (plus one tomboy) are trained by the Eugenically Perfect War Messiah to commit a genocide but it's okay because they're going to adopt the new generation of the people they killed and raise them as their own.

Imagine if Paul Atreides was really into laser tag and felt the White Man's Burden and gave himself the occasional n-word pass. I strongly suspect that the book must have been significantly changed since the 1991 edition I read, because there's stuff in here that should be at least as notorious as the scene in the sewer in IT and nobody talks about them. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Murder, Xenophobia, War, Bullying, Physical abuse, Genocide, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Antisemitism, and Death

For some reason nobody talks about how the children in this book are constantly naked.

swarmofbees's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs