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jewelrybonney'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Medical content, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Rape, Police brutality, Misogyny, Violence, Torture, Racism, Racial slurs, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Classism and Colonisation
Minor: Ableism
breeisreading_'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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I’m in awe of James’ writing style, how he effortlessly switches between the myriad of characters and still makes it easy for us to go with the flow, picking up a new voice and way of storytelling that never feels out of place from the previous chapter.
This was honestly not what I expected, and not what I assumed going into it - I did think there would be more emphasis on Bob Marley, as that’s definitely how the book was marketed. However, the lack of “The Singer” didn’t even let me down, as every other character was so absorbing that I never felt I wanted any less of them all.
Sometimes the politics and economics was all a bit much, but maybe that’s just me as someone who has no idea about most of any of what was mentioned. I feel like I learnt a lot about Jamaica and its politics and people and the 70s/80s and drugs/gangs etc in America as well. It definitely kept me hooked throughout.
And even though most of the characters were awful, evil people - I ended up liking so many of them, or at least feeling attached to them. Especially Weeper. And definitely Nina Burgess (and all her many other names). Every character felt very real and alive to me, and because I’ve been reading this book solidly for like a week now, I honestly think I’m going to miss this world and it’s inhabitants now I’m not with them anymore.
Graphic: Gun violence, Drug use, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, Grief, Racism, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Medical content, Murder, Racial slurs, Addiction, and Fire/Fire injury
daisytudball's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Lots of content warnings on this one..
Graphic: Death, Racism, Kidnapping, Murder, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Police brutality, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
whatthekatdraggedin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Murder, Drug use, Addiction, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Gun violence
Moderate: Rape, Vomit, and Excrement
Minor: Pregnancy
panoptican's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Rape, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Trafficking, Misogyny, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, Racial slurs, Sexism, Physical abuse, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Racism, Bullying, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use
carlytenille's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, and Excrement
chalkletters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Marlon James’ style feels intentional; each character has a different voice, using 'the Singer’ instead of Bob Marley’s name elevates him to a mythic figure and the stream-of-consciousness changes to reflect the emotional and mental states of his characters. Unfortunately, going in with no prior knowledge of events combined with vast array of narrators and the overload of detail made it difficult to pick out which people and events would prove to be important. The narrative is hard work for an uninformed reader, especially the middle section where the chapters are long enough to feel exhausting.
A Brief History of Seven Killings is also, as is to be expected, incredibly violent. As well as the advertised assassination and drug wars, there’s a lot of background violence, both sexual and otherwise, which certainly didn’t lighten the emotional load any. The Gallows Pole was similarly violent, but A Brief History of Seven Killings had none of that poetic prose to ease the relentlessly miserable experience almost all of the characters were having.
What Marlon James did well was ratchet up the tension, especially just prior to the assassination attempt, but also before other explosive events. Even with no knowledge of what was coming, it was obvious that something was about to go down, which was emotionally engaging.
A reader who picked up A Brief History of Seven Killings because the blurb or real-life history sounded intriguing would probably enjoy it, this book just wasn’t for me, and I blame that more on whatever I read that interested me in it more than I blame it on the book itself.
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide
Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Excrement, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Vomit
eliasiexil's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Classism, Cursing, Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Torture, and Vomit
mattgroot1980's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence
sunny_not's review against another edition
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Misogyny, Murder, Death, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Violence