Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

6 reviews

stevia333k's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.25

So it should first be said that evolutionary psychology "evopsych" was developed as enslavement propaganda/apologia as well as (war) rape culture apologia. Like these discussions of instinct & connection are important for unpacking some political implications. I haven't done that yet. This is important because this book had a lot of listen to nature & communing with nature vibes so to know there is definitely discourses for that even if the histiographies are racist bourgeois patriarchal is helpful. Like that's been something I've been trying to learn by recently reading about famines. Point being, if this is going to be some people's introduction to listening to nature then I'll need to figure out where the starting point is at.

This book gave me Katniss Everdeen vibes, and that was definitely a thing I would think about as I read this book. I liked the setting a lot, communing with the other life forms etc. Like doing prayers at parks instead of schools is more my vibe so.

I was told this book was very feminist & that was helpful. I thought the book might've been poly but it wasn't. Like one of the boyfriends ended up being a self-centered rapist.

Anyways, I actually thought she was black until I thought about the school scene & was like wait a minute the schools were segregated back then. The discussion of desegregation if business towards the end was awkward because that's not desegregation of homes, but whatever.

Anyway, she's white. The title for this book in Spanish calls her "savaje", a savage. Thankfully there's no cultural appropriation of native/indigenous Americans, but still keep an eye on that in discussions about this book because that would end up putting a bunch of racist stereotypes on people. But that would be more the fault of the readers I think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Cancer, Sexual violence, Gore, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Murder

jfield351's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was very well written and easy to read.
For me, it did not live up to the hype because I was able to guess the ending quite early on. 

The lack of her memories about that night was very suspicious. It was also suspicious that no one else was accused. The only time I thought that maybe it wasn’t her was when the sheriff took tate away. but that was just because his father had died

. There were some very interesting facts in here, the ‘sneaky fuckers’ theory and general animal behaviour is what i am currently studying in zoology and evolution. so that was really interesting. Having been written by a zoologist was very interesting!! I also really liked the line ‘giving away another piece of herself just to have someone else’ when she laughed for chase. really hit deep.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Child abuse

Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Bullying, Classism, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and War

saurahsaurus's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

Updated 7/20/22. I am not one of those who believes that an artist’s works should be separated from their personal life. If I am going to spend my money and time on something, I want it align with my values—or at least not blatantly violate my conscience. Shortly after finishing this book, I discovered that the author, her husband, and her stepson were wanted for questioning related to their potential involvement in the murder of an alleged poacher in Zambia. The White Savior tropes and

approval of the main character getting away with murder

all make sense now. Even without the knowledge that the author’s stepson was potentially involved in the murder of a Zambian man in a formerly colonized country and that the author and her then-family fled the country instead of cooperating with investigators, this book made me uneasy. It was exasperatingly self-indulgent in the way it dealt with race and racism, to the point that the Black characters seemed almost cartoonish in their irreality. (Read: an entire community of Black people, who had never met Kya—a White outsider—

parted like the Red Sea when Kya came to their segregated neighborhood for Jumpin’s funeral.

)

I think that this type of racism (White Savior and ever-so-grateful Black people who cannot be the architects of their own salvation) is inherently harmful, but bearing the author’s personal history in mind, it takes on a new level of sinisterness. It reeks of White guilt and fragility, and bears entirely too much resemblance to the author’s life to be coincidence.

I previously gave this book a 2.75, but it truly deserves a zero for the author’s real life sins.

Original review: The author has such a distinct style of writing, and her prose can be strikingly beautiful—intermittently simple and abstruse. However, I have two main issues with this book. Chiefly, I felt like certain aspects of this book weren’t consistent in conveying the social mores of the time, or their severity. I understand that racial inequality is difficult to convey and a sensitive topic, but I always have to wonder why an author chooses a time period in which this is a salient issue, only to not effectively capture its essence. It very much felt like a White person trying to portray the experience of Black Americans at the time. For instance, despite being a small and deeply segregated town,

the judge decided on the spot that a trial that occurred in his court would be integrated, and that anyone who disagreed would not be welcome. It just didn’t seem realistic.

As another example,

when Jumpin’, a Black supporting character and a close friend of Kya’s, was being threatened by some White boys, Kya just happened to be in the right place at the right time. She defended Jumpin’ by incapacitating the two boys.

It felt very much like a “White Savior” moment to me. Furthermore,

when one of the Black characters dies in the book, the whole town comes out to attend his funeral and every Black person that attended stepped aside for Kya…despite none of them knowing her.

It was all very weird and didn’t feel realistic or consistent with the racism depicted—either implicitly or explicitly. As yet another example,

at one point, Kya even compares her situation to situations that have befallen Black women and says it’s the exact same. Seriously? Even as an outcast, Kya was a WHITE WOMAN. I don’t think I need to explain why Kya’s life experiences would have been drastically different from a Black woman in the same position. Kya may have been discouraged from visiting certain places, but she had a legal right to do so. Black people at the time were legally barred from many establishments. Furthermore and most importantly, (massive spoiler ahead) if a Black person had been accused of murdering a White man in 1970, in a small and segregated town, I cannot see how they would’ve possibly been acquitted or had any semblance of a fair trial. How is that the same? Ugh.

My second main issue was the ending. Massive spoiler ahead.

I don’t even know what to say, really. I mean, sure I get why Kya would do what she did, but then I feel like it completely nullifies all of the lessons the book is supposed to be teaching and preaching about. Kya was ostracized, which was horribly wrong, but then the towns people were actually right about her committing murder? And I felt like the book implied that they were wrong for being prejudiced and jumping to conclusions. Sure, their reasoning was prejudiced but they ended up being right. If you’re gonna have Kya, this person who’s supposed to be innocent and wild and free and a bit weird but harmless, be the killer…then lean into that. There was not really a whole lot of duality to her (eg a dark side) that would have made that plot twist make sense. So why do it, if not for shock value? It just felt really inconsistent with her character. I would have actually rooted for Kya to get away with murder (in fiction only!) if that dark side had been established earlier on and not just out of nowhere.

Anyway, I enjoyed parts of this book but I don’t see myself re-reading it. There are so many books out there, and I’m almost frustrated that I spent time reading this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Racism, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Stalking

Minor: Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Slavery

A note on the sexual violence and harassment tags, which contains a significant spoiler but is not detailed:

the violence was attempted, but not successful.

If you would like specific details, then please keep reading. However, please note that they may be triggering or disturbing. I have tried to be as brief as possible. If you would not like further spoilers (or you find this information too disturbing), then please do not read.

In the scene, someone who the main character knows very well sneaks up on her, and attempts to rape her. He manages to partially remove her clothing and is about to commit sexual assault, but the main character is able to fight him off and flee. In the process, both individuals inflict injuries on each other.

A note about the stalking tag:

I’m not entirely sure that the technical term would be stalking, but the main character is forced to hide from another character (whom she knows very well) because it is likely that he intends to grievously harm her. He attempts to find her, but does not track her. This could be due to the fact that the main character is especially evasive, and therefore he was unable to stalk her.

ajourneythroughpages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Death, Racism, Rape, and Child abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Grief

bookishgoob's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

Chills. when i tell you i had chills reading this book………. ridiculous. amazing. i’m speechless. it’s been a long while since a book has left me feeling this way. the imagery and the personality and just everything about this book had me smiling, laughing, crying, hurting, and feeling so many more emotions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Car accident, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Violence

oliviafaye's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence