Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen

53 reviews

driss's review

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Police brutality

rae_vinn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.0

I didn’t like how the ending played out. I felt like it was unfair that the black woman was the one who was truly subjected to the whores of slavery. Meanwhile, the white people who, needed to do the most learning, got off easy. I don’t like that  most  of the gruesome details were done to the African-American characters, and when it came time for the white characters to experience death, all but one, was relatively quick.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lvd92's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75

This book was such a strong work. Honestly, it was so raw, so human, so honest. However, I would not widely recommend it. This book deals with some very heavy topics, and one needs to be in a state of mind in which that can be dealt with healthily. Don't go in expecting a ghostly horror book with jump scares, etc. This is a horror book in the sense that it deals with some of the worst things white people have done to black people in the time of slavery, the lingering racism towards black people, and attempts at whitewashing how monstrous people were and still can be against those we deem other. It is such an important topic, such a vital lesson, particularly as some of us still appear to find it very hard to learn to know and do better. 

As for my review of the actual book - In my opinion, this is a really strong work. The writing style worked very well for me; no purple prose, but just a very natural flow of invocative phrasing. The author uses flashbacks here and there, which I think were handled well. I love how skilled the author took us into Mira's experiences, not always knowing what she saw. The characters were very well-developed, too. I'd say that the author was pretty successful in developing particularly Mira, Celine and Jesse into complex and flawed but likeable characters. The plot may have had some pacing issues here and there, but I did not mind the slow parts. They helped me connect more with the characters and process some of the darker occurrences in the plot, and their real-life underlying inspiration. Just really solid.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

rheagoveas's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Blood

readingwithgoose's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide

kaerene's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

Another TikTok recommendation that lives up to the hype. It has everything thing: horror, ghosts, and multiple deaths at a wedding on an old plantation home. Once you get halfway through, you will be unable to stop reading as you are taken on a wild journey not knowing what is a vision and what is real. This is a really heavy read so be sure to check content warnings as these characters go through a lot in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

aisabel's review

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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

readingpicnic's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail