Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Bat by Jo Nesbø

10 reviews

h3ykatrina's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Colonisation, Car accident, and Alcoholism

e11en's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

1.5

Readable, but it was all a bit ick. The Australian characters were farcical and all of the lengthy exposition on Australian politics and history felt very forced and preachy. I did not like the ending or the ‘big reveal’. There are also a few scenes where someone kicks a dog and it’s treated like just a funny act(?!) but honestly that made me more uncomfortable than the gruesome murder scenes. And although I’m sure the book is actually quite progressive considering it was published in 1997, there are a lot of ways in which it hasn’t aged well. Lots of casual fatphobia, for instance. There is also a lot of homophobia and racism although I’m sure it’s all largely representative of this time in history. And the use of some offensive terms that are considerably outdated. 
I’ve really enjoyed Nesbo’s writing in the past. I’m open to trying another Harry Hole in time, but this one was *not it*. Give it a miss.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Racism, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Rape, Police brutality, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Car accident, Addiction, Murder, and Drug use

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, and Colonisation

midwifekt's review against another edition

dark

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

2.0

You can't keep great white sharks in captivity*. That was silly, and easy to find with minor research, and how am I supposed to take anything else seriously? 

In non-shark problems, I realize this was published a million years ago (1997), but yikes. Cannot say I recommend in this year of two thousand and twenty three. 

*Monterey Bay Aquarium had a research program in the mid-2000s, and the longest they could keep one was for 198 days. I was privileged enough to see one while it was there, but you just can't keep them alive in captivity. They get aggressive, and don't eat, and die. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Colonisation, Death, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Suicide

slimepuppy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Despite the blatant homophobia, transmisogyny and fatphobia, this book could have been way more fun - except when it finally begins to pick up the pace, the story grinds to a halt as the main character spirals, taking all the moderate fun time the reader was having with him down the drain.

Not terrible, but it took too long to get actually intersting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Addiction, Colonisation, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Fatphobia, Gun violence, Death of parent, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Transphobia

Minor: Racial slurs and Injury/Injury detail

capra's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Misogyny, Colonisation, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, and Xenophobia

ekmook's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

1.0

I don’t even know where to begin with how deeply offensive and problematic this entire book was…even for 1997.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Forced institutionalization, Transphobia, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Grief, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Racism, Homophobia, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Self harm, and Xenophobia

splaex's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The plot ccasionally feels a little messy and convoluted but overall very enjoyable reading experience.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, and Drug abuse

nieva098's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Rape, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Death, Genocide, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Grief, Colonisation, and Drug use

oddreads_nicolestins's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I truly enjoyed this one! I don't know why I was expecting the story to be based more in Norway- BUT I was pleasantly surprised that the book was based in Australia. What really made this book 5-stars for me, was all the details and nuance about the Aboriginal characters. Nordic reads can definitely fall flat by lacking diverse characters (for example, having very similar characters skew either good or bad could turn a story into a pile of sameness after 300 pages, depending on what you're into of course). By adding the views of more than one Aboriginal person, as well as having them represent different tribes and having different upbringings/lifestyles, I was able to really get a feel for them as people and so (without naming names) I was actually shocked/saddened when the plot twists occurred.

There were also other characters that Nesbø gave life to that might've been abbreviated or omitted completely by another author. For this I appreciate him and think if you appreciate character-driven crime reads, then his books are for you! There's also plenty plot to go around! Excited to start book 2 for #nordicnovember

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Alcoholism

Moderate: Trafficking and Death

Minor: Suicide and Colonisation

ran_sophia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Surprising to me was who the perpetrator was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Alcoholism

Moderate: Racism and Murder

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Colonisation