Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen

12 reviews

brookey8888's review

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

This isn’t horror like scary ghost and slashers. It’s the horror of history and men. 

The start of this was kind of boring I’m not going to lie because nothing really happened. But the last like 20% had my jaw on the floor multiple times and not because it’s necessarily shocking, but because it was so disturbing and anger inducing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, Cultural appropriation, Rape, Classism, Colonisation, Child death, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Cursing, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Hate crime, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

allisonfagan's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

3.75

I felt like this book was very heavy but had enough mystery and twists to keep you engaged. 70% through I felt like we were running nonstop (in the best way possible). Overall this story really made me reflect on the atrocities of slavery and made me realize how even I was desensitized to it to a certain degree.  It truly should never be a topic to be made light of and was probably one of the worst things to happen in human history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Slavery, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Rape, Racism, Physical abuse, Confinement, Murder, and Police brutality

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

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

ylimeread's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Body horror, Colonisation, Rape, Slavery, and Violence

cam356's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Racism, Slavery, and Hate crime

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

eed8's review

dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Confinement, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Rape, and Racial slurs

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

Moderate: Classism and Hate crime

bandysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

Recently, I've been working on expanding the genres that I read. In the past, I've avoided horror as I always thought it wasn't for me, but after trying a couple of different books I'm finding that I really enjoy it. In particular, I like horror that roots itself in history or the real world. When The Reckoning Comes does exactly that. 

The story follows Mira as she returns to her hometown for her ex-bestfriend's wedding. There are threads of mystery and horror that get pulled into the story almost from the beginning, but as the plot picks up the horror really amps up with it. The wedding is held on a historic plantation where slaves were brutalized, tortured, and raped and Mira's discomfort and disgust with the location is immediately apparent. The majority of the guests remain oblivious to the ghosts haunting them until it becomes unavoidable.

I am finding that I really love horror built on reality. I think the idea of being haunted by trauma and horrific events is much more terrifying than zombies, ghosts, and devils. This also creates a lot of social critique within the story which makes it even better. 

All in all, I found this a very relevant and scary horror story. If you like a more gothic vibe, current themes, and a compelling main character, you should definitely check this one out! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Genocide, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Death, Gaslighting, Violence, Gore, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Torture

This book is about the ghosts of slavery on a particularly brutal plantation. Torture, murder, rape, and other dehumanizing acts are described in explicit detail. If you are sensitive to violence, please consider carefully before reading.