Reviews tagging 'Racism'

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

9 reviews

swenja's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Rape, Addiction, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Vomit

jewelrybonney's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

nwfalens's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

Beautiful storytelling, but very difficult reading with the violence. An important book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, Child death, Death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

breeisreading_'s review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

4.5

Basically a masterpiece, but there’s something just stopping me from giving it 5 stars. It’s just a little too long winded, a little too confusing at times, but still one of the most well crafted books I have ever read.

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.

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• 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

Incredible book spanning several decades in Jamaica around the time of Bob Marley’s attempted assassination. Quite complex to read jumping back and forth between characters and cities- read when you’re ready to concentrate. 

Lots of content warnings on this one.. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Kidnapping, Murder, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Police brutality, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

panoptican's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

eliasiexil's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

kimiwriter's review against another edition

I really enjoyed this audiobook but once it got to the 79% mark, things slowed down and I needed to move on to other books for my project. I would like to come back to this at some point though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, and Sexual assault