Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

8 reviews

rachelmcg2004's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Racial slurs, Incest, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Rape, Xenophobia, Racism, Stalking, Sexual violence, and Classism

Moderate: Torture, Vomit, and Gun violence

Minor: Infidelity, Abortion, and Child death

beccalynnfrank's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Check the content warnings before reading!! Hard to read at some points, but I loved the ending and the main characters progression was so meaningful because of all the hard parts. Super cool universe she’s made and the aliens in it are super interesting and well done. Overall great world building + great characters 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Incest, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Sexual violence

2treads's review

challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

"No need to wish for dead, it will happen soon enough. It does come to all of we." - Abitefa.

Nalo Hopkinson is quickly becoming one of my top authors. The way in which she infuses her books with portions of her/our culture shows how dedicated she is to bringing the richness of our practices and celebrations of the Caribbean to her readers.
🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺
Midnight Robber is no exception; filled with influences from Jamaica to Trinidad to Carriacou as a whole was just exceptional. I was swept up and carried away and had no regrets.
Nalo has such an attuned way of writing her heritage: the dialect, the people, the places, the music, the festivals, and the experiences.
It is impossible not to just immerse oneself in the tale she tells, especially when one can relate to what is on the page. The atmosphere that Hopkinson weaves is lush; bursting with Caribbean flavour and folktales even as we travel to planets via 'interdimensional gateways'. 
🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺
The impact of the cultures from the countries where Nalo has lived is vibrantly woven throughout this story, and I could not help but fall into every page. There are experiences that are familiar, both good and bad (friendships, parent/child relationships, family dynamics, and displacement). Not only is there passion in this story, but there is betrayal, misdeeds, bravery, self-acceptance, and triumph.
The polyamory representation was noted and appreciated and content warning: there is child sexual abuse depicted in this story, as well as the damaging effect on our MCs psyche. 
Read This Book!!
🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Murder, Incest, Death of parent, Child abuse, Rape, Abortion, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity and Body horror

ra22ouille's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

I was so wrapped into this story from the get go, everything felt so clear with the masterful worldbuilding woven together into the actions of the characters.

Tan-tan brought so much love with her and set a transformation on the world. She was a force of change to people, to new halfway tree, and also Toussaint and granny nanny. Watching her learn to love was hopeful and strengthening.

Abitefa and Tan-tan's relationship made me warm and tender. I wanted more of them together and at the end I really missed Abitefa's involvement because I wanted her to more vocally there and obviously be a friend and equal, not masquerading as a pet (it was unclear to me if she was or not which I found dissatisfying).

The timeline surprised me by how short a time period it was. The way Tan-Tan grew into a legend felt like it should have lasted a lifetime. I think it's really poignant that it all happened during her pregnancy and it says a lot about transformation and life and forgiveness, but I have conflicting feelings bc it was a little confusing and dissatisfying.

Overall this was such an incredible incredible story and it will stay with me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Incest, Rape, Death, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, and Infidelity

Moderate: Blood and Abortion

reggiethebird's review

adventurous emotional inspiring slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Torture, and Gun violence

Minor: Cursing, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Confinement, Abandonment, and Vomit

rashi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

I fell in LOVE with the Midnight Robbers folklore/campfire style of storytelling. The narrator’s voice felt so comforting, even as they were telling you a dark story, it felt okay somehow…  as if even if were scared, the narrator would always guide you in the right direction, towards a good story. Tan-Tan is a complex character who comes from many adversaries (maybe too many???) I would love to see this animated or in comic books because the imagery was fantastical and dark-whimsical, totally my cup of tea. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Violence, and Child abuse

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Incest, Infidelity, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Minor: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

bookish_sabrina's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

I initially was very into this story of a Caribbean colony on another planet and how Caribbean culture had influenced this futuristic society. It is written in dialect, which was at first difficult but eventually is something that you sink in to, making the story all the more immersive. I was very impressed by the use of technology in this novel. It came out in 2000, but has technologies reminiscent of Bluetooth, Big Tech, machine learning, and self-driving cars.

I was disappointed to find the latter half of this novel is primarily a revenge story, and most of the plotlines converge on a shitty dude being shitty to everyone rather than the women who appear to be the protagonists of the story. Unfortunately, the imposing figure of this guy overshadows the characters that are meant to be the primary actors, muddying and diverting the plot to something I was significantly less interested in. I wish this novel had delved deeper into conversations of colonialism, as the human settlers took land originally occupied by an indigenous alien species. There are touches of that discussion, but I would have found that much more interesting territory to cover than a pretty bland revenge tale. But that's me reading this book 21 years after publication, and perhaps I would feel differently if I had read it in the political climate in which it was originally written.

An interesting read, but ultimately kind of disappointing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Incest, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Rape