Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

18 reviews

mxpringle's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I really wanted to love this book, and I had really high expectations, but it just fell a little flat for me. I felt like the first third of the book really gripped me, but after a certain point it just felt like the same sequence of events were being taking place, just with different audiences each time. However, I do really appreciate the political and social commentary that this book added that made it much more complex than simply an alien invasion story in Lagos.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, and Rape

theaceofpages's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.75

I was unfortunately rather disappointed by this book. I read and enjoyed the Akata Witch books a few years back and was excited to see my library had a different book by this author. I don't know if it's the book or if my tastes have just changed, but this one just didn't do it for me in the same way.

I don't know, it was often kind of confusing and could have used an edit to make the plot more streamlined. I was a little frustrated by all the A names (I know this is minor but it added to my frustrations). It got weird and interesting towards the end but then what should have been a big event is dismissed in a few lines. The plot keeps jumping around and randomly changing pace. There is just too much happening for the page count and a lot gets lost or forgotten. Don't get me wrong, chaotic books can be interesting. This one just has too much and struggled to resolve itself properly.

A disclaimer for this part: I do not live in Lagos (although I do live in Africa). As much as the city obviously means a lot to the author (as shown through some of the characters), something felt off to me. I know she was born in and grew up in the USA and I feel like it shows to some extent. I have seen similar sentiments from other reviewers, but others enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, it's not book breakingly bad or anything, but it also didn't quite feel right either...

I had such high hopes for this book and maybe that's why it let me down... If this book sounds interesting to you I wouldn't say not to read it, but rather to be aware that you are going into something that is strange, chaotic and frustrating at times 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Homophobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Death, Infidelity, and Rape

cookiecat73's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Chronic illness, Confinement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Blood, Sexism, and Animal death

Moderate: Vomit, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug use, Islamophobia, Outing, Racism, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Colonisation and Death of parent

gilnean's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Hate crime, Murder, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Body horror, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Child death, and Cursing

Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Death of parent, Car accident, Infidelity, Alcohol, Child abuse, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal death, Physical abuse, and Excrement

_lostinthetrees's review against another edition

This is a book I have to turn into the library that eventually I would like to finish, but I'm just not in the mood for at the moment, partially because of the content warnings I mentioned below. The premise, outside of those things that are included, make for an interesting read. I will update when I actually finish the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Toxic relationship

the_bees_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Great for fans N KJemisin and Octavia E Butler, a fascinating piece of afro futurism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Police brutality, Homophobia, and Transphobia

Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Drug use

rexpostfacto's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Ableism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

amandaquotidianbooks's review against another edition

This has a lot of dark things happening with the human characters and not as much to do with the aliens. It didn’t seem like the second half would be anymore enjoyable as the first half and I’m not in the headspace for such a dark book right now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault

mixter86's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexism, Transphobia, and Violence

becksusername's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Car accident, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and War