Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn

39 reviews

picnicatthehangingtree's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

A clever and funny, if overly simplistic and expository, story of totalitarianism and freedom of speech. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Violence

mlwe's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

Summary:
There are 26 letters in the English alphabet. How often do you use all of them? What would you do if you couldn't?

The citizens on the island of Nollop, named after the author of "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy brown dog," must confront this very issue. The alphabet monument honoring Nollop is crumbling apart, which the Council interprets as a command of the cessations and censoring of the island's letters. Thus, any citizen found to be using these graphemes will be exiled or executed. However, not everyone agrees with this divine interpretation of an old structure, and community ties begin to resemble the dilapidated signage. Factions form. Fear begins crumbling the Nollopian's futures. Hope feels lost unless the citizens can unite and resist the oppressive regime that has overtaken their land, life, and language.

My Thoughts:
Definitely not the fairy tale I was expecting! I was thrown by some of the darker themes the novel tackles and the stark parallels to modern society. I'd probably benefit from a reread, as the plot was quite clever and interesting to follow. The characters were fun to meet, and I enjoyed seeing the different perspectives on the events unfolding in Nollop. However, as it is an epistolary novel, it could be difficult to identify which character was narrating without turning to the signature at the end of the letter. I got some spoilers flipping back and forth, but enjoyed having small, succinct 'chapters' to piece together and pace myself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism and Confinement

Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Oppressive Regimes, Social Isolation

gollibee's review against another edition

funny tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Easily a new favorite of mine.

It was giving “Memory Police”, but less pain.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Suicide attempt, and Police brutality

qrschulte's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

3.0

This book had an interesting premise, but the focus on staying true to the “joke” of the book about letters being removed from a society’s vocabulary being told through letters (epistolary), was a bit much in my opinion. The characters weren’t that compelling, and a whole lot of nothing happened for it all to get resolved real quick in the last 20 pages (which incidentally were pretty blank).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Self harm, and Deportation

Moderate: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Confinement

anton13's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

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

3.75

Yeah no. It’s at most like 3.5-3.75 stars. It’s not for me. There where parts I liked and it’s definitely well written but it was boring. The whole premise is a great idea and I honestly think if it was executed a bit differently I’d have enjoyed it more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Police brutality

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Deportation, and Death

Minor: Abandonment and Suicide attempt

yoursam's review

adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

4.0

Before retiring, though, I shall turn to my dear husband and say, "Today we queried, questioned, and inquired. Promise me that come tomorrow, we will not stop asking why." And Amos, being Amos, will chuckle and perhaps respond, "We'll never stop asking, dear. Now to sleep. Quiet, dear. Quiet, quiet. To sleep."

p.28

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, and Death

Minor: Suicide attempt

breezer's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

I really really wanted to love this but it was a tough read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Police brutality

cheye13's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deportation and Suicide attempt

Minor: Police brutality, Ableism, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

The R slur is used in casual passing on pg 131 (hardback edition). Most other tags relate to the enforcement and punishments with regard to the illegal letters. Being epistolary, there is a casualness and distance from the actual events described.

elizajstocks's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

So charming! A book for people who love language. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Deportation, and Religious bigotry

razorfangz's review against another edition

dark funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Absolutely one of the most creative books I've read recently. More books that take on unconventional formats that also align really well with the plot please! A very funny but still very sharp take on religious bigotry and fascism, and it makes you read each letter very carefully to make sure the characters don't get the death sentence. My main complaint is that the ending feels rather unsatisfying to me, but I'll let you decide for yourself whether it's fitting or not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

Minor: Racism and Ableism

Ableism and racism tags are due to the use of the R slur and G slur, though they're only used once.