Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

13 reviews

hanz's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Suicide, and Dementia

liesthemoontells's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.75

This was a beautiful, haunting, moving book. I had put off reading it as the themes sounded incredibly heavy, but after a friend's recommendation and assurance that it was more of a reflective read I decided to tackle it. 

While the book's themes are complex, heavy, and at times very dark, Harpman's treatment of the subject matter is more meditative and philosophical than shock provoking. There are many ruminations on what it means to be human, on navigating love, gender, and human connection when you have been given no reference point. 

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who needs resolutions to their mystery fiction but if you are looking for a powerful and ambivalent piece of speculative literature I could not recommend it more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Minor: Violence and War

aideus's review

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Violence, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ritasotero's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book killed me. Amazing book, amazing writing, i just cant read this type of books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Torture, and War

infectedarea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Murder

phoevincent's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Deportation

itsybitsygingie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was an incredibly difficult yet beautiful book to read. It brought forth some incredibly difficult feelings concerning being human and the role of womanhood within society. My one slight of the book was the sheer amount of anti-female sentiments from the main character. Her one consistent thought throughout the book was that she was better because she wasn’t constrained by the supposedly womanly traits of the other characters, and I didn’t see as much growth as I would liked concerning this position. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

imaggienary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting

radtj's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I really liked the author’s take on what it means to be human and time as a construct of humanity. This book leaves you with some unanswered questions, but it’s the feeling the book leaves you with that feels more important. The format and voice the author writes in compels you to be just as curious as the main character, and it definitely gives you some interesting topics to think about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Infertility, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, and Grief

saffaffi's review

So incredibly depressing in every possible way

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Abandonment