Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country by Patricia Evangelista

3 reviews

wendywoo1's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Child death, Child abuse, Abandonment, Gun violence, Death, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Sexual violence, Body horror, Torture, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, and Injury/Injury detail

sumsi's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

"Some People Need Killing" examines how a society fails to uphold its moral compass. It shows how populism and nationalism lead to a fascist society in which the weakest member of society become the targets of an ever-increasing hate campaign needed to justify the position of those in power. It's a powerful book, and a needed one, as it themes are globally relevant.

Evangelista manages to effortlessly weave in a flurry of topics, including autobiographical details, as well as historic struggles and insights into the contemporary culture of the Philippines. 

We learn about the conditions that lead to  Rodrigo Duterte's rise to power, the impact of his "war against drugs" and the aftermath of a country that reels against the violence it inflicted upon itself. We are presented with the people who voted for him, the people that executed his ideas, and the victims whose lives have been extinguished or otherwise irreversibly impacted for the worse. 

Trying to edit all of this trauma, personal and cultural, down into a report could not have been a harder task. As such I did find myself willfully rereading dense passages, doing extra research, and enduring the  —  at times  —  long-winded reflections and repetitions. It's a fantastic book that I highly recommend. Still I'll have to be honest in that it wasn't quite my cup of tea, and that trying to devour it mostly lead to stomach aches. It's a clunky book  — as in my experience are most that have something of substance to say!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Addiction, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Classism, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Racism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Police brutality, and Sexism

lisztaffe's review

challenging dark emotional informative tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Police brutality, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Addiction, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Gun violence

Minor: Torture