Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.

71 reviews

maevebm's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

As with most books with multiple perspectives, the author runs the
risk of some characters not connecting with the reader. I found myself only interested in a few characters and  stories. which made the majority of the book a bit of a chore to read. I will say Jones has an incredible way of using language to create beautiful
imagery and voices. Although at times, I found it a bit pompous and over-the-top.
I think it's worth reading this novel because it does tell a moving
story about people and love and hatred and humanity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Racial slurs, Murder, Racism, Rape, and Violence

marcellaandherbooks's review

challenging dark emotional 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

Let me start by saying this book is phenomenal, it has been quit some time since I read a debut novel this strong. 

It is the story of life on a cotton plantation in Mississippi. The book switches perspective in each chapter, from both the enslaved people and the plantation owners, aswell as some chapters told from past tribes in Africa and greek chorus style chapters from the ancestors. All these voices however, pivot around two men in love, Samuel and Isaiah. The book is about their relationship and how they find love and comfort in eachother whilest tensions on the plantation reach a crescendo. 
This isn't an easy book. One, for its subject matter. It comes with the content warnings you might expect from a book dealing with slavery. But it also isn't a straightforward story. It switches around from different perspectives, it jumps back and forth in time, and the writing, whilest beautiful and lyrical, also uses a lot of similes and metaphors. It's a book that takes a bit more effort and concentration to read in my opinion, but I promise it pays off. 
It is a weighted book, weighted with history and wisdom and trauma and sadness of generations of enslaved people. And at the same time it has notes of lightness and love and hope in the story of Samuel and Isaiah. Painful and soothing at the same time. 
There is so many layers to unpack in this story, I feel like I've only scratched the surface in my first read, so I have an inkling I will be returning to this book in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

jesshindes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

'The Prophets' is author Robert Jones Jr's first book and it's an ambitious - and successful - debut. It tells the story of Isaiah and Samuel, whose love helps them survive the demands and miseries of life as slaves on a cotton plantation; but Jones's scope takes us far beyond his two lead characters. The point of view shifts with each chapter, letting the reader into the lives and thoughts not only of many other slaves on the plantation (shout-out to Maggie, who I absolutely loved) but also of the white family in the big house. In some of the most powerful sections of Jones's novel, he also takes us back to Africa and the arrival of Portuguese slavers in a tribal community, showing the reaction of these 'skinless men' to a society whose norms around gender and sexuality are quite different than their own. We also spend time in the suffocating confines of a slaving ship, which is as vividly and carefully depicted as the rest of Jones's novel. 

Jones never shies away from the brutality and inhumanity of slavery, which meant that this was hard going in places; but he leavens the novel with language that is always thoughtful and often beautiful, and the narrative offers moments of peace, hope, and even triumph amongst the general misery of Elizabeth Plantation. Without spoiling too much, I loved the magical threads that wove through this story, which serve as a connection back to Africa and can be read as a way of maintaining humanity and power in a setting designed to deprive its inhabitants of both - without ever minimising or skirting the real horrors that are being described. 'The Prophets' is not a light read but it is a very good one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Torture, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Murder, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Mental illness and Homophobia

bookedbyelizabeth's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Sexual harassment, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Racism, Rape, Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

chicowriter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, and Racism

taria's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Torture

Moderate: Homophobia, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

amberinbookland's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Torture, Suicide, Pregnancy, Murder, Miscarriage, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Excrement, Death of parent, Confinement, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Colonisation, Body horror, Blood, Alcohol, Rape, Infertility, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny

btrz7's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Trafficking, Death, Misogyny, and Rape

Moderate: Abandonment and Abortion

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, and Genocide

vcallahan's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.5

A modern classic. Lyrical prose and fantastic images, with Jones (accurately) defining his own writing as inspired by Morrison and Baldwin. Tangled, heartbreaking, with themes including injustice and generational trauma, as well as the importance of relationships. 

I am in awe of what Jones managed to achieve with this novel. 4.5 simply because I wish so much that I could have spent more time with Samuel and Isaiah and less time with certain other characters (with that said, I thoroughly enjoyed the feminism throughout). 

Everyone should read.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Sexual assault

charleshasalibrary's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Sexual content, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Outing, Physical abuse, War, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, and Violence