Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

14 reviews

chloe_jade's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

This book will haunt me forever - and I’m glad. Such elegantly written prose for such an evocative tale. 

I was saddened to see people find this book misogynistic. The author, Jacqueline, was born in 1929 - I believe the characters are a good reflection of what she would’ve lived through - patriarchal beauty standards, housewife culture, patronisation of women. It’s not right to assume any author’s beliefs are the same as their characters.

The characters are a product of all of that, and I found the protagonist’s dedication to exploration despite the solitude to  be empowering. By the end, I had a strong affinity with the protagonist. 

A raw dive into what it means to be human when everything is stripped away from us. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

sop17hie's review

reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

A very reflective book, I really felt the emotions of the narrator. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Suicide, Police brutality, and Murder

Minor: Forced institutionalization

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

poirot's review

emotional reflective 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol

tlaynejones's review

dark slow-paced

2.0

No. 
Maybe my brain has melted from the relentless onslaught of euthanasia (ableism?) and suicide but I don’t think this is a particularly feminist novel. I think even if it was back in the mid 90s, it doesn’t stand the test of time. I also found some of the events/ learnings/ descriptions related to the protagonist to feel clunky and or inauthentic. 
This is a bleak story, and there is not a lot of complex character development; other than the MC all the characters are barely sketched in. 
Read with caution

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

rowanelisa's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

rainbopagn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I spend through this in about a day. Harpman’s prose totally drowns you in the story, a bit rambling a times and harshly blunt at others. You leave the book thinking about what makes you human. My one complaint is that we never learn our narrators name. I would have liked to see the women help name her given she was their child, whether they liked it or not. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

picaresquedreamer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infertility, and Suicide

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence, and Police brutality

taylormoore's review

challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Kidnapping

Moderate: Violence and Police brutality

josiemeyer's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder