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randomkatisms's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Rape, Miscarriage, Blood, Physical abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Death, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
cocoaqueenk's review against another edition
5.0
Roxane Gay's An Untamed State may be in my literary Top 15. And I don't know if I can read it again. It is hard to put down in the devastating way it is hard to look away from a car crash. And yet, it has taken me a whole month to read. I needed breaks. I wasn't ready for my soul to be ran over. I have just finished it and don't know what to do with the weight that now rests inside me. Talk about PTBD - Post Traumatic Book Disorder....
liketheday's review against another edition
2.0
For all that I just didn't like or connect with this book, I really enjoyed Roxane Gay's writing and am looking forward to her upcoming book of essays in hopes that her nonfiction and humor make me happier than this book did.
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sarahbrown93's review against another edition
5.0
This book feels so important as you read it and even more intensely after. It feels strange to recommend it to another person because of how truly devastating and unflinching it is throughout the entire novel, but a book has never made me feel more intensely aware and captivated. Of course I’ve read great books, but this felt more like a necessary experience than a story to me.
It was hard to see this book as a novel because it felt so real the entire time. I’ve seen complaints that the characters weren’t as likable as some people may have wished, but why should they be? They came off as strikingly real to me and it would have done this impeccable story of trauma a disservice to whittle the characters down to predictably likable fantasies. Personally, I loved Mireille very easily and I appreciated that she was so complex, even exaggeratedly so. It would have been a disservice to the character to make her too easy to love because women are not always too easy to love. Gay paints a perfect picture of why that is and how important it is to understand that the world does not make it easy on women. Somehow, I ended this novel with a sense of hope. As much as this is a story about trauma, I think it is also a story about survival on your own terms.
I’m trying to write this spoiler free, so I don’t want to go much further. Just read this and prepare to not want to stop reading it because it’s very important to see this woman survive. You should also prepare to cry a lot because like I said, you feel this story in your bones.
It was hard to see this book as a novel because it felt so real the entire time. I’ve seen complaints that the characters weren’t as likable as some people may have wished, but why should they be? They came off as strikingly real to me and it would have done this impeccable story of trauma a disservice to whittle the characters down to predictably likable fantasies. Personally, I loved Mireille very easily and I appreciated that she was so complex, even exaggeratedly so. It would have been a disservice to the character to make her too easy to love because women are not always too easy to love. Gay paints a perfect picture of why that is and how important it is to understand that the world does not make it easy on women. Somehow, I ended this novel with a sense of hope. As much as this is a story about trauma, I think it is also a story about survival on your own terms.
I’m trying to write this spoiler free, so I don’t want to go much further. Just read this and prepare to not want to stop reading it because it’s very important to see this woman survive. You should also prepare to cry a lot because like I said, you feel this story in your bones.
littletaiko's review against another edition
4.0
This is hard book to review in that it's not an easy read but definitely a compelling story. A woman from a wealthy family is kidnapped in Haiti and held for ransom by a group of thugs. As the story weaves back and forth between her current predicament and her past the reader gets a good feel for the strength of her character as well as the the struggles within her country and family. Ultimately it's a story of surviving and finding help from the people you might least expect it from. The author does a good job of tempering the violence by switching the narrative away from kidnapping at a time when the reader needs a break.
nkling6's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a few years old, and I read it on a recommendation from Goodreads. So glad I did. It was a really hard read at times because of the content, but a very good story. Highly recommend.
mellabella's review against another edition
4.0
I started reading this book and put it down for a few weeks. When Mireille was about to be gang raped for the first time... I just could not read it right then. When I picked it back up, I could not stop. Mireille's parents are from Haiti. They are wealthy. There is a vast disparity between wealthy Haitian people and, poor Haitian people. Mireille is married. Her, her husband (who is White), and her young son are on their way to the beach when she is kidnapped. Her father takes 13 days to pay the ransom. During those 13 days Mireille is brutalized. We flash back and forth between when her and her husband Michael first started dating and the present. We learn about how they met, their families, their relationship (which seems... Slightly immature). This book isn't just about Mireille's kidnapping. It's about how she was still a prisoner even after she was released, about race and class, sexual violence and resilience. I felt that something more should have happened to "The Commander" (the ringleader of the men that kidnapped her) when she saw him years after. But, I guess the ending was fitting.
cora_the_explorer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.75