Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Hell of a Book by Jason Mott

20 reviews

beccablock's review

challenging dark funny reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Bullying, Murder, Child death, and Hate crime

bookgardendc's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

The title does the book justice. I’ve never read anything quite like this - it’s funny and complex and deeply profound and yet somehow two-thirds of the book manages to 
 feel fairly light. I clearly felt the inner struggles of the characters, and the generational trauma that African Americans must experience. Beautiful book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child death, Hate crime, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Death, Violence, Gun violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Alcohol

Trauma is a major feature. This book centers on police shootings of black men and boys. While descriptions aren’t graphic, it is an ever present theme.

paigereitz's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

 It is, as the name suggests, a hell of a book. It is an intense deep dive into race relations in novel form, from the Black experience, and it is an emotionally heavy read, but it was so, so good. An indictment on modern society, skillfully woven through a story that is disorienting and jarring and hard and emotional.  I'll be processing this book for a long time. 

From the book, "Laugh all you want, but I think learning to love yourself in a country when you're told that you're a plague on the economy, that you're nothing but a prisoner in the making, that your life can be taken away from you at any moment and there's nothing you can do about it - learning to love yourself in the middle of all that? Hell, that's a goddamn miracle."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Police brutality, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cancer, Slavery, and Grief

axo17's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I really loved it. Not a huge fan of books where they jump back and forth between voices/narrations. But once you get a feel for the characters it helps a lot. I loved how it touched on a lot of different arguments to racism or what “isn’t” racism/the problem. The reason I ranked it a lower than the full 5 is because even though I understand where the the author is coming from by also using mental health as an example with the (?Schizophrenia?) I feel like that’s a whole separate issue. Yes, it adds another level to it, but it left me wanting a little more of that side to the story. Be it clarity, meat, whatever. 

Ultimately, for me Hell of a Book really showed more of what I have never experienced, as far as this depth. The only other comparison I have to what people of color could go through is as a woman, I was taught to not dress a certain way, carry keys in my fingers, tell friends where I am are going on a date, dealing with misogyny, so on and so forth. I think that might be the only way I related on occasion to the multiple examples given. But. It’s just a whole world I’ll never know and I think reading it and trying to understand that hurt, is one small aim from the book in a much larger - seemingly never ending - story. 

I recommend this to anyone. It might put something into perspective a little more.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Racial slurs, and Child death

heatherilene's review

emotional funny mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Death of parent, Gun violence, Cancer, Child death, Alcohol, Bullying, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Mental illness, Death, and Murder

hannah2186's review

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Grief, Genocide, Colonisation, Child death, Gun violence, Alcohol, Bullying, Violence, Death of parent, Classism, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, and Hate crime

kshertz's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I think this book is too smart for me. It’s very deep with a lot of metaphors and multiple characters that mold into each other and there’s some imaginary pieces and fantasy.  At the end it all comes together but I spent most of the book confused and frustrated with myself about not getting it. I think anyone interested in deep dives into Black trauma and Black lives would learn a lot from this. I hope in the future I can pick it back up again and understand more of it. I don’t think the book was written for me but I think it’s an important read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Death of parent, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Abandonment, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Violence

cynthiareads's review

challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Bullying

diaratewi's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Bullying

lliizz12's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Gun violence, Child death, Racism, Racial slurs, and Death