Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

71 reviews

offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy and War

Minor: Sexual content

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

Short and sharp and bittersweet, balancing the mythos at the core of the worldbuilding with the personal experience of the (most prominent) viewpoint, grim and unrelenting and yet ultimately welcoming. Also mermaids and awkward conversations about mermaid banging. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Slavery, Pregnancy, Blood, War, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Self harm, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

adhdru's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

3.75

Adding a full review soon, but I first need to sit on this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War

Minor: Sexual content

psistillreadyou's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Self harm

katievh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Violence

kylieqrada's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective 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

5.0

I listened to this via the audiobook version, which is narrated by Daveed Diggs. I highly, highly recommend that reading experience. I had previously read An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, so I knew that I was in for some deep (no pun intended) stuff with anything by them. However, I think that what Rivers accomplished here is so beyond anything else I've read, especially when considered with the context of the Drexia ouevre and the clipping song. The exploration of generational trauma and the impact of history on the collective and the individual was heart-rending, deeply impactful, and richly portrayed through each character. Also the diversity in this short novella is some of the best I've ever seen. I see you, demi rep! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Xenophobia

kpem's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book.  I listened to the audiobook, read by Daveed Diggs.  I highly recommend that format as he did such a great job.  It was just so beautiful and sad and fascinating and moving.  The backstory of how the novella came to be: its first iteration was a mythology created by an Afrofuturism inspired electronic music group from Detroit, which was then used to create a song for This American Life by clipping (an experimental hip hop group; one of its members Daveed Diggs), and then Rivers Solomon adapted that song into this novella.  It's just a fascinating history of adaptations and a beautiful story about adaptation and unpacking generational trauma.  I truly just can't recommend it enough.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Violence

victorianrogue's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Slavery, and Trafficking

Minor: Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Racism

nikkiblack17's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Slavery and Violence

sauvageloup's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

brilliant!! ^-^

pros:
- excellent writing, simple but gripping, powerful and visual. It's so easy to just get swept up and immersed in it, just like the sea
- Yetu is a relatable figure, even as she struggles with herself over what to do. The situation is fictional but the pain between self and community, between past and present, desire and duty, are all relatable difficulties
- there is a clear arc, even as there are diversions and back-and-forth parts in the middle. Yetu grows hugely, as does her mother, and Oori, too, and their whole community
- the idea and worldbuilding are fascinating and the details of 'mud womb' and their traditions add a lot of depth
- i loved the dips into previous "historians", who were clearly of very different temperaments to Yetu. it never became too confusing about what time we were in, roughly, nor where we were headed
- whilst it dealt with very heavy topics and Yetu was struggling, there was never an overwhelming heaviness that made it suffocating to read
- the we pronouns used in it were a great way to emphasise the community and togetherness of the wajinru

cons:
- only con was for me personally, that i could've done without the fairly graphic description of birth, though it didn't go on long enough to be too bad. Also wasn't too interested in wajinru genitals tbh, but i appreciate that it showed Oori and Yetu's growing relationship and her curiosity.

overall, fantastic. I'd like to read it again when i've forgotten it a bit. it's a powerful must-read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual content

graphic scenes of childbirth, suicidal ideation, threat of suicide, passive suicidal ideation