Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

28 reviews

brynalexa's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Perfect. It’s a rare long gem that deserves to be so. I loved making small discoveries throughout the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Genocide, Infidelity, Infertility, Mental illness, Body shaming, Abortion, Classism, Grief, Homophobia, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Police brutality, Colonisation, Sexism, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Addiction, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Murder, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Physical abuse, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy

ennzito24's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Words can't describe how much I love this book. This was one of the most beautiful stories I've ever read and it's something that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Theorizing was so captivating and elegant! While the book is fiction, the subject matter behind it is very much real. Honorée is truly a master storyteller and I can't wait to read more of her work. Everyone needs to read this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Death, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Rape, Racism, Police brutality, Miscarriage, Ableism, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexism, Mental illness, Hate crime, Grief, Genocide, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Colonisation

aashton93's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. I normally don’t like to read books about black
Trauma. I like to escape when I read this book was beautifully written. It had so much history and connection. It focused on real family ties and generational trauma. But also the overcoming. Highlighted the importance of storytelling and family history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Slavery, Colonisation, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Death of parent, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, and Rape

readandfindout's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4.5 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Colonisation, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Classism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Incest, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Violence, Torture, Rape, Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, Addiction, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abortion

bookishkellyn's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective

• 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

5.0

This is probably the best book I’ve ever read in my entire life. The author has a way with words and combined with her extensive research, she weaves an immersive fictional but realistic tale about a multigenerational family–mostly seen through the eyes of the main protagonist (Ailey) from childhood to adulthood. By the end of the book, I felt like I knew these characters after experiencing the highs and lows with them. I enjoyed reading every bit of this almost 800-page masterpiece.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Slavery, Pedophilia, Violence, Racial slurs, Rape, and Racism

Moderate: Colonisation, Infidelity, Murder, Death of parent, Sexism, Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Blood, and Bullying

cassielaj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book has so much going on, and I still felt like I could’ve kept reading for 100 more pages because the writing is so beautiful. It is absolutely captivating. Beautifully written, informative, and engaging. It ties in major historical events with characters’ lives in a really impressive and effective way. It’s telling family history and American history at the same time, showing how they’re interconnected. It’s also expertly paced for such a long book. I love the jumping back and forth between timelines, connecting Ailey’s present and family history through her ancestral land. It’s horribly sad and challenging to read, but terribly important. And it has some uplifting moments as well. I really enjoyed reading about Ailey’s journey and the way everything connected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Death, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Hate crime, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Trafficking, Genocide, Infidelity, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Cursing

risqkae's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Violence, Hate crime, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Slavery, Abortion, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Suicide, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

ari76's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.5

I have no doubt the writing of this book was Jeffers' labor - of love, of loss, of sifting through the ugly/beautiful/mundane lives of Black, Indigenous, and White folks starting with the colonization of Creek and Cherokee. It's clear how much she loves tangling and disentangling families - one of the most striking parts of this book was how Jeffers was able to continually embed the ways relationship ties can be bound and severed. I was also struck by the way she described sexual abuse and assault against Black girls and women. It was heartbreaking and poignant, though at times I wished for her to follow the thread a bit more. I also appreciated the way she wove in historic events and familiar institutions for Black folks (churches, HBCUs) into the story of these interconnected families. In short, Jeffers has done something remarkable with this book.

That being said, I had qualms. It was a humungous undertaking to write about this family from its relative beginning to the 21st century, and especially big when you consider the time skips and revelations. I commend Jeffers for bringing in the details at every stage and I enjoyed some of the writing that reflected every period. I /learned/ a lot through the book.  However, those choices also resulted in me getting lost in the broader narrative, especially after having Ailey as the primary narrator (and using "I") for a while then switching back to the omniscient perspective. I found myself playing catch-up, and at times feeling a little frustrated without a family tree and with a focus on broader events. I appreciated that Jeffers made family was implicated in broader Black US history, but I feel like we didn't get to see the arc pay off within the family itself at the cost of these connections and perhaps a true timeline of a life. The eras alone were cool to see but also....I could've left more space for the familial processing of the gravity of what happened. That frustration boiled over a bit at the end when Ailey's

dissertation project was happening and she connected the family dots. The time for the family to react (and how they did) was rushed.  THAT'S what I wanted more than hearing about the technical aspects of Routledge College! I wanted more conversations about the sexual violence the sisters experienced, Mama reflecting on herself, AILEY REFLECTING ON IT ALL AS SHE DID AT THE BEGINNING. Those teen chapters were among some of the best I've seen written, yet as a PhD exploring adult it's as if she lost that ability?

I also wanted Jeffers to push further when making mention of colorism. There was definite implicit critique, but the lack of explicit critique that the characters needed - I also think there's more to unpack for all of the men being the primary examples of being "white-passing" and the way that informed their romantic relationships.

 As you can tell by the review, this book brings up so many thoughts for me, and for that, I'm grateful. There was so much that I wanted and I have to remind myself, so much that Jeffers wanted to give. 
.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Rape, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Grief, Death, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Racism, Pregnancy, Incest, Hate crime, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Slavery, and Death of parent

madeleinebay's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

erebus53's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is a book I was recommended by a member of an online book club. I really had no idea what it would be about and sometimes I like to go into things with no preconceptions. The focus of this book is telling an intergenerational story of a family. It is fiction, but has the feel of several intergenerational narratives I have liked, such as Wild Swans. The focus of the narrative is Feminist and is an account of the history of Black Americans in the South (specifically Georgia).

Having read Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, and Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, a lot of the plot points of this book were familiar. If you haven't learned much about the Antebellum South, this could be quite rough going. As a historian (main character) Ailey Pearl Garfield is often shaken, and moved to tears, by the accounts she unearths about happenings in her family's past.

This story is nuanced, and the characters feel like people rather than archetypes. Weaving a history filled with trauma would be pretty much impossible without some levity and there is a lot of dialogue that lightens the mood. Some of the humour is utterly hilarious and there are often call-backs to information about minor characters that pepper the backstory with shared in-jokes and form a real sense of this family inhabiting a rich world and community. There are a couple of LGBT characters in the story, and a family history of Dyslexia which becomes apparent as Ailey digs deeper into her family's story.

I could write an entire page to describe the content warnings... but I won't. Let's just say that Racism is the tip of a horrible, bloody iceberg, and that genocide, sexual abuse, physical abuse, suicide, drug addiction, miscarriage, gaslighting and oppression of various forms are all in this book. It's a big book.. there are a lot of words.. and not all of it is pretty.

The Audiobook is beautifully narrated by 3 different voice talents, and the story spans several different timelines, so if you are "reading" by Audiobook it's a good idea to download the supplemental material that lists the genealogy of the family, so you don't get lost.

Thoroughly recommend this book. I found myself really excited by some revelations near the end and more than once I got body chills and frisson from emotionally resonant bits. This would be a great bookclub read if you have people who read at about the same pace, and don't mind tomes that exceed 800 pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Mental illness, Grief, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Excrement, Addiction, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Murder, Genocide, Suicide, Misogyny, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Torture, Homophobia, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Blood, Alcohol, Ableism, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Gore, Classism, Child abuse, Abortion, Violence, Self harm, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Incest, Domestic abuse, Death, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Drug use, and Drug abuse