Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans

6 reviews

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-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

The Office of Historical Corrections is a collection of short stories about, fittingly, histories. The familial, the personal, the buried, the rewritten, and the ugly. It reflects on the history of Blackness in America—specifically, being a Black woman in America—and all the grief that comes with it. This left me tender and raw, but most importantly, I felt seen. I will be sure to seek out Evans’ writing in the future, and will likely revisit these stories often.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Racism, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Death of parent

helhas3letters's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This collection of short stories is well written, although I found a lot of the content quite depressing. I most enjoyed the story 'Why Won't Women Just Say What They Want'.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Medical content, Misogyny, and Grief

Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Death, and Racism

Minor: Blood, Classism, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Pregnancy

kaimetcalfe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, and Hate crime

Moderate: Alcohol and Infidelity

unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

This collection is amazing.

Danielle Evans is a force, a talent, a gifted writer, a freaking prose deity, all of the superlatives. Every story in this collection is detailed, gripping, and emotionally charged but also incredibly pedestrian - on the surface. 

Some standouts for me:

• Boys Go To Jupiter: in which a phenomenally self-absorbed white girl goes to great lengths to justify her blatant racism. I have never felt more uncomfortable while reading a story, in the best way.
• Why Won’t Women Just Say What They Want: in which an artist disappears for years only to reinsert himself in the public consciousness via extremely public and elaborate apologies. Everything about this one is perfect.
• Anything Could Disappear: in which a young woman unintentionally kidnaps a toddler.
• The Office of Historical Corrections: a novella that is simultaneously deep commentary on history and historians, racial justice, Black womanhood, the federal government, gentrification and white supremacy and also a really interesting near-future story about a woman doing her (boring) job.

👍🏻Recommended for fans of short stories and contemporary fiction. If you liked Milk, Blood, Heat by Dantiel Moniz or Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw, you will enjoy this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Chronic illness, Violence, Sexism, Murder, Car accident, Kidnapping, Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, and Racial slurs

samara's review against another edition

emotional reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Confinement

Minor: Mass/school shootings

cheye13's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This is one of the best collections I have read in a while and definitely one of the best books I've read this year. I bumped a star because some passages were a bit too rambly for me to follow and I think the more subtle messages went over my head but, boy, were they all beautiful (if painful) to read.

★★★★★|Why Won't Women Just Say What They Want; Anything Could Disappear; The Office of Historical Corrections
★★★★|Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain; Boys Go To Jupiter
★★★|Happily Ever After; Alcatraz

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Violence, Cancer, Confinement, Suicide, and Abandonment

Minor: Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

All content is handled conscientiously and with intention.