Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen

29 reviews

herelieshenry's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

this is one of the best novels I’ve read in a damn long time. people complaining that it isn’t “horror enough” baffle me; horror as a genre has always had room for discussing and showing the horrors within society and in history. I don’t know why so many reviewers seem confused that a plantation wedding horror novel is rooted in discussing the grotesque history of the plantation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Death, Violence, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Alcohol

thiszetasajerk's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.0

I didn’t like how the ending played out. I felt like it was unfair that the black woman was the one who was truly subjected to the whores of slavery. Meanwhile, the white people who, needed to do the most learning, got off easy. I don’t like that  most  of the gruesome details were done to the African-American characters, and when it came time for the white characters to experience death, all but one, was relatively quick.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lvd92's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

This book was such a strong work. Honestly, it was so raw, so human, so honest. However, I would not widely recommend it. This book deals with some very heavy topics, and one needs to be in a state of mind in which that can be dealt with healthily. Don't go in expecting a ghostly horror book with jump scares, etc. This is a horror book in the sense that it deals with some of the worst things white people have done to black people in the time of slavery, the lingering racism towards black people, and attempts at whitewashing how monstrous people were and still can be against those we deem other. It is such an important topic, such a vital lesson, particularly as some of us still appear to find it very hard to learn to know and do better. 

As for my review of the actual book - In my opinion, this is a really strong work. The writing style worked very well for me; no purple prose, but just a very natural flow of invocative phrasing. The author uses flashbacks here and there, which I think were handled well. I love how skilled the author took us into Mira's experiences, not always knowing what she saw. The characters were very well-developed, too. I'd say that the author was pretty successful in developing particularly Mira, Celine and Jesse into complex and flawed but likeable characters. The plot may have had some pacing issues here and there, but I did not mind the slow parts. They helped me connect more with the characters and process some of the darker occurrences in the plot, and their real-life underlying inspiration. Just really solid.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

ashleycmms's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Racism, Slavery, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

rheagoveas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Blood

honeycruller's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Overall, I liked the book. I was looking for something similar to Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward so I gave this a go. My only qualm is that there were several points where there was more tell than there was show. There would be a beautiful (and accessible) metaphor, then two paragraphs later it would be spelled out for the reader. I understood it the first time, I don’t need the metaphor explained thank you. There was some very graphic scenes near the end, violence and gore but it’s not unrealistic … humans are awful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, and Sexual violence

The scenes where they talk about things being made of human flesh, the flesh of the enslaved people, literally had me so nauseous I thought I was going to be ill.

singalana's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

 

I’m feeling conflicted about this book. I wanted to like it more, but it fell a bit short for me. The premise is interesting and important: the main character is invited to her childhood friend’s wedding. The wedding is held at a renovated plantation that has a dark history of slavery. 

The book starts slowly, exploring the childhood of our two main characters: Mira and Jesse, and their friend Celine, whose wedding they are now invited to. We get an account of the events that led to Jesse being ostracized and them drifting apart. The events really kick off at the end of the book, when the story turns chilling.

The book explores an important topic of slavery and how that history still affects the lives of black people today. There are some disturbing depictions of what happened to the slaves. Unfortunately, for me, the events got a bit confusing towards the end and I couldn’t keep up with why people did what they did. I wish Mira and Jesse could have been a bit stronger characters, and the relationship between them felt slightly forced.

In conclusion, the topic is extremely important, the main theme of the book was great and the “american gothic” atmosphere was well executed. With a better characterization and a little more thought to the ending this could have been an excellent book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Trafficking, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Terminal illness, Stalking, and Alcohol

lindseyas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

4.75

This was another book that I read for my "Literary Hauntings" class. It wasn't like the normal "hauntings" that we'd been reading about, but it was the most realistic, and certainly the most visceral, emotional and raw. The combination of history and the supernatural is the perfect encapsulation of what the gothic really is – our pasts coming back to haunt us. The novel played perfectly into this archetype, with a tense tone and winding suspense keeping it in place. It used gore and mental anguish to create a haunting aura that has lasted with me long since reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, and Murder

mfrisk's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

This read was a good mixture of social commentary and supernatural horror. It discussed the complexities of growing up in an area which still holds onto its segregated and racist history and even makes an attraction out of a plantation which has seen atrocities which we see recreated by the ghosts who still are haunted by what they saw and experienced. It discusses poverty, racism, friendship, and the need to feel you’ve moved up. The only reason I’m giving it 4 stars is I think it could have incorporated the elements of horror earlier on in the book. There was a lot of background given on our characters and setting which was helpful but I think didn’t allow us as much time to get into some of the story elements and delve deeper. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Toxic friendship

finleyfrogreads's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail