Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.

22 reviews

mackenzienoelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.75

The audiobook narrator was incredible. It’s hard for me to judge how fast or slow this book was just because audiobooks go really fast for me. Strong strong content warnings on this one but it was so beautiful and important to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Sexual content, Trafficking, Genocide, Racism, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Rape

Moderate: Sexism, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Excrement, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide, Transphobia, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

burnourhistory's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, and Body horror

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

theskyboi's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

At its center, this novel's narrative centers on Isaiah and Samuel, an enslaved couple on the Mississippi plantation disaffectionately known as Empty. However, the narration travels between the lives of all the plantation's major figures, weaving a careful, complex tapestry of sorrows, histories, and identities. While this book did take me rather long to finish, I don't find it to be a flaw; rather, I consider it a slower story that envelops you and begs you to consider each and every character in their totality.

Part of the pacing comes from the emotional weight of assessing the relationship we have to past cultures erased and exploited in the name of greed and power. Part of the pacing comes from the lyrical prose and poetry that Robert Jones Jr. expertly crafted on the pages of his debut novel. As an author, he utilizes each character's voice for the purposes of an emotional about-face between terror and tenderness.

I absolutely consider this book an essential addition to my shelf, and I feel enriched after having delved into the world of these forbidden lovers. However, the brutality of slavery cannot be ignored, so I present a brief notice to readers who know themselves to be sensitive in regard to such acts of violence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Violence, Slavery, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Rape, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Racism

Moderate: Miscarriage

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

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

seawarrior's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad tense 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

Brutally and beautifully told, The Prophets portrays how love and identity endure and transcend even the most desecrated of places. While Isaiah and Samuel are the worthy leading couple of The Prophets, the novel heavily focuses on the unwanted strength the Black women of the story have been shouldered with, and how they uplift themselves and their families for generations. Each of Jones' characters are fully realized, complex people. He does not shy away from exploring their deepest angers and darkest secrets, pushing us to understand their actions even if we do not, or should not, forgive them. He writes with a style is so lyrical it's almost poetic, and instills wisdom and truth on every page. Throughout the book, Jones unflinchingly depicts the horror of slavery without reveling in it. He tells traumatic scenarios from multiple perspectives and many understandings, shadowing survivors in hope and their perpetrators with terror. This book is sure to become a modern classic, and I'd highly recommend it to others. However, please note the content warnings below.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Transphobia

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