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tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Graphic: Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Outing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Excrement, Genocide, and Sexual content
Minor: Abortion, Incest, Suicide, Mental illness, Vomit, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug use
Moderate: Religious trauma, Environmental degradationlisztaffe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Slavery, Torture, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexism, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Abortion, Gore, Racism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Torture, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Blood, Cursing, Physical abuse, Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Sexual content
kirstenf's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Racial slurs, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Confinement, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Blood, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Trafficking
Minor: Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Infidelity, Colonisation, and Pregnancy
greenrequiem's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Homophobia, Trafficking, Death, Violence, Racism, Torture, Hate crime, Colonisation, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Death of parent, Infidelity, Misogyny, Child death, Classism, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
kshertz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Classism, Colonisation, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, and Racial slurs
amberinbookland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
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
ktdakotareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Death, Rape, Violence, Racism, Child death, Blood, Slavery, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Misogyny, Homophobia, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
whathillarygraceread's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
This book was a 2021 NBA finalist in fiction, but I don't know how it didn't win.
Graphic: Racism, Rape, Child death, Death, and Death of parent
cait's review against another edition
- 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
The Prophets is a novel that takes some time to get into. As with many books about slavery, it is a distressing and uncomfortable read. We follow the occupants of a cotton plantation known as Empty as desperation leads one man to Christ and the rest to destruction. Wanting nothing more than to have his sort-of wife be excused from the forced inseminations, Amos decides to appease the plantation owner by turning to Christianity and spreading it amongst the other slaves, grasping particularly onto the "sins" he perceives are being committed by Isaiah and Samuel in the privacy of their barn. Though the duo is known for their hard work and kind natures, being the only men in Empty who don't participate in the forced rape of slave women at their master's command, it isn't long before the members of the community turn on them, just so they can have someone to look down upon.
This is a difficult story to put into words. It is equal parts fascinating and horrifying, beautiful and hideous. The way it delves into generational trauma and blood memory is fascinating. Jones did such an incredible job of fleshing out these characters within their limited amount of designated pages and completing the story so that it circles back in on itself. This is the sort of novel that makes you really think. I've heard it's the kind of story that, if you explore it a second time, you discover was deeper and more detailed than you originally imagined.
But, while this is a story of race and racism, I think that it is also a story of power and misogyny. Like the steps of a ladder: White over black and men over women. As you go down the rungs of the ladder, though, who has the least amount of power: Black women ... or black men who do not obey the "rules" of manhood? And why and by who was it decided that the thing that made these two boys lesser was the fact that they alone never laid a single hand upon anyone unwilling to be touched?
Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Violence
tiogair_rioga's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Excrement, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Mental illness