Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan

6 reviews

scmiller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Excrement, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexism, Addiction, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, War, Gore, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Violence

Homelessness, extreme poverty

milesbruno1's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I absolutely love this book. I think this book is must-read. BUT, this book has some scenes that are absolutely disgusting. Some scenes made me physically ill due to how actually foul they are. Many scenes involve crimes against children, murder, SA, and gore. If you are squeamish around this sort of content, I do not recommend this book. Otherwise this book is an absolute masterpiece. The way Uwem incorporates different languages and cultures is absolutely stunning. The 5 stories in this book are all amazing. All showing struggle and adversity through the eyes of children. I highly recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Murder, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

 Say You’re One of Them is a collection of two novellas and three short stories. It was written by a Jesuit priest and the stories are set in different African countries. All highlight the impact of big social issues - religious divides, civil war, poverty, child trafficking, the AIDS epidemic, genocide - through the eyes of children. The book is a challenging read because of the content. In addition the use of phonetic speech, different dialects and snippets of several languages could be off-putting to some readers. For me I found it added a feeling of authenticity to the stories and didn’t detract from my comprehension. Several of the stories ended abruptly, without a full resolution. This felt somewhat unsatisfying but I do wonder if it was deliberate. Most of these issues continue today - there is no resolution; the best children can hope for is to live through them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Child abuse, Genocide, Murder, Trafficking, and Sexual assault

laceej88's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug use, Genocide, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Violence, War, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Racism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Rape, Slavery, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Excrement

mwanamkembaya's review

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Islamophobia, Genocide, Gaslighting, and Car accident

Minor: Blood and Drug abuse

jenenemorgan's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Racism, and Trafficking

Minor: Pedophilia