Reviews tagging 'Classism'

When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen

21 reviews

amris's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Police brutality, Toxic friendship, and Classism

vigil's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

2.0

this book held my attention as i read it, but once i put it down, i had little inclination to pick it up again. 

i enjoyed the story, though if you’re looking for a fresh ghost story with twists and turns, this isn’t it. it’s a very classic revenge story and i think it’s strength lies more in it’s themes and how unflinching the author is in her criticism of racism, plantations, and how everyone can play into white supremacy, maliciously or not. my favorite portion of the book is towards the ending

where mira lives through the eyes of one of the slaves, and it uncovers just how horrific slavery really was, and how horrific everyone in the present is for ignoring and exploiting it.

it didn’t quite stick the landing though in my opinion. the latter portion of the book is rather unclear, making it hard to distinguish what fact from fiction and how did some of the more shocking events happen or didn’t happen. this vagueness isn’t bad in and of itself, but it makes the ending even more egregious. all the vague hallucinatory vibes disappear and the book is over because the protagonist literally says it’s over, not because anything is really done. i don’t need the protagonists to stick around and clean up the mess made by racist whites, but what about everything else? it felt like author thought she got her message across sufficiently and forgot about the story. the message it sends is good, but as a book it’s just okay.

also. i found celine’s character to be personally uncomfortable to me as a black person (but all too familiar) but i found the “poor girl dares to try to escape and gets put down like a dog by her partner” portion of the book to be rather distasteful. also a copout, no white person in this book has to personally reckon with anything. they’re either nameless racists, or end up dead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

nchipp's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Classism

singalana's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

 

I’m feeling conflicted about this book. I wanted to like it more, but it fell a bit short for me. The premise is interesting and important: the main character is invited to her childhood friend’s wedding. The wedding is held at a renovated plantation that has a dark history of slavery. 

The book starts slowly, exploring the childhood of our two main characters: Mira and Jesse, and their friend Celine, whose wedding they are now invited to. We get an account of the events that led to Jesse being ostracized and them drifting apart. The events really kick off at the end of the book, when the story turns chilling.

The book explores an important topic of slavery and how that history still affects the lives of black people today. There are some disturbing depictions of what happened to the slaves. Unfortunately, for me, the events got a bit confusing towards the end and I couldn’t keep up with why people did what they did. I wish Mira and Jesse could have been a bit stronger characters, and the relationship between them felt slightly forced.

In conclusion, the topic is extremely important, the main theme of the book was great and the “american gothic” atmosphere was well executed. With a better characterization and a little more thought to the ending this could have been an excellent book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Trafficking, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Terminal illness, Stalking, and Alcohol

swedishfrisk's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

This read was a good mixture of social commentary and supernatural horror. It discussed the complexities of growing up in an area which still holds onto its segregated and racist history and even makes an attraction out of a plantation which has seen atrocities which we see recreated by the ghosts who still are haunted by what they saw and experienced. It discusses poverty, racism, friendship, and the need to feel you’ve moved up. The only reason I’m giving it 4 stars is I think it could have incorporated the elements of horror earlier on in the book. There was a lot of background given on our characters and setting which was helpful but I think didn’t allow us as much time to get into some of the story elements and delve deeper. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Toxic friendship

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying and Toxic relationship

finleyfrogreads's review

dark sad medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

savvylit's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

When the Reckoning Comes has many layers to its horror. First, there's the genocidal legacy of chattel slavery. Then there are the deeply sadistic acts of this specific plantation's owner. Third, there are groups of murderous ghosts. Fourth, there's deep-seated modern racism and classism. Lastly, there's the unique terror of a plantation becoming a luxury resort.

Like all of the horror in this novel, the latter element of terror is inspired by reality -- many former plantations throughout the American South have been renovated into deluxe event spaces. McQueen skillfully depicts this unique and ignorant glossing over of the truth. That a place of such immense suffering can be turned into a for-profit monument to a romanticized version of antebellum America? How deeply twisted. At the Woodsman plantation central to this novel, not only have the grounds been turned into a resort BUT one of the paid "entertainments" is reenactment of slave labor. Reenactments that are done by local Black people - the very descendants of the folks originally enslaved at that exact location.

Ultimately, When the Reckoning Comes is revenge horror at its finest. The ghosts of slaves that had been brutally tortured ultimately force many white descendants of owners and staff to reckon with their legacy of death and terror. Not only that, but McQueen's story itself pushes readers to consider the myriad, nuanced ways in which genocide echoes throughout the modern American South. The bloody echoes of slavery are still here. And that's the real horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Classism

ecn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

albernikolauras's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was a solid blend of thriller and murder. You follow Mira as she comes back to her hometown for a wedding of one of her childhood friends. While they hadn't talked since Mira left, she is drawn back in for this extravagant wedding on a local plantation. From there, you are drawn into the mystery of this plantation and the reasons behind this wedding.

I found the start of this to be slower than I expected, but as the end starting coming together, all of the groundwork in the beginning fell into place. The book did an excellent job alternating between the horrors of simply being black in America and the horror of the what might be lurking at the plantation itself. It was tense and it kept you on your toes.

Highly recommend for a thriller, and if you want to pair it with a non-fiction, I would recommend 'How the Word is Passed' as the themes between the two find a lot of overlap.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Hate crime and Classism