Reviews with content warning for Racism - Sorrowland

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

mirrorofneptune's review

dark emotional medium-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

2.5

I think this is objectively a very good book. It weaves together themes of race, gender, generational trauma related to both of the aforementioned topics, body horror, sexuality, transformation, and systemic abuse of power. I appreciated the running theme of the body and how it relates to the self, and I thought the plot had good elements of sci-fi and horror.

I only had a couple “valid” (in my words) problems with the book, chief among them being the ending– it felt rather deus ex machina to me and while I can understand it thematically, I think if the author had decided to

leave everyone dead

that also could have worked thematically. I also went into this book expecting a greater emphasis on the cult aspect and the nuances of how belief can be abused, and there was definitely some of that, but it felt somewhat overshadowed by the other themes, especially because

the cult leaders turn out to be government plants in the end

. Finally, some of this dialogue felt awkward to me, but I also think it’s hard to write any kind of dialogue where characters express political opinions and not have it sound a bit soapbox-y. So that’s not the author’s fault.

My completely-subjective (invalid) reason for rating this book so low is that I did not like the writing style at all. As in, I knew by the end of the first paragraph that I would not vibe with the book solely due to the writing style. I still powered through because the premise was interesting and I’m glad I did, but my opinion on the writing style has not changed. I think it aims to be poetic but to me it felt overwritten. Again this is a purely subjective opinion and doesn’t speak to the author’s ability at all, but it also did in essence ruin the experience of reading the book for me :(

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jmcampbell57's review

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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

3.5

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

This was such a fantastic book, and I am always impressed every time I read from Rivers Solomon. They are an excellent writer, and I don’t know if they’ve written anything else besides The Deep (which I’ve read), but I will be seeking out their backlist.

This book follows Vern, a 15-year-old intersex kid (I say “kid” because she was a minor when this story began, and it was so upsetting what she went through) who has run away from her community (Blessed Acres of Cain also called “Cainland”), and gives birth to twins whom she names Feral and Howling. Feral and Vern are both albino, which was an interesting part of their own arcs in how they navigated feelings about their bodies, their skin, and the ways in which they were treated by society.

The compound that Vern left was originally thought of as Black power movement-inspired, but has morphed into a religious cult. Vern was married to the leader, and when the choice was brought to her, it was framed as if it was “doing her a favor”. Barf.

Vern figures out more about the compound, as well as herself in regards to her own powers. I don’t want to spoil it, but the way that the fungi comes into play, as well as the government ties, was a mind-fuck. I was not expecting that, and Solomon really surprised me.

Ultimately, I appreciated the commentary that Solomon provides on the government, cults, racism, religion, colonization, gender, and sexuality. I honored Vern’s anger, exhaustion, and unrelenting stubbornness, and was fully immersed in this gruesome story about generational trauma and the horrors of America’s history of violence against Black and indigenous folks.

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shauna_grenead's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Persevere on this one. I took a bit to get going, but now that I’ve finished I appreciate the work the author put in and how it challenges the reader to reflect on their own thoughts and ideas about being human, our society, history, sexuality, racism, and identity. I love the tie to nature and appreciate the different ways to explore Vern’s metamorphosis.

Having said all this, it is not one for the faint of heart. The writing is beautifully raw and grotesque. I don’t believe I fit the target audience for Sorrowland. I’m glad I read it anyway.

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victorsbookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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plantybooklover's review

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challenging dark emotional 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

This book is a challenge. It is beautifully written, complex. It's a total mash up- Sci Fi, Fantasy, Horror.
Overview: Vern escapes a cult known as Cain -Land as a pregnant teen. She births twins in the woods and chooses an extrordinarily difficult path to raise them while avoiding those from the compound who pursue her. Vern develops supernatural powers and features and must work to understand and control them.
This book- though under 400 pages packs a punch to the gut. I was struck by the massive amount of references to both great black literature, and intense black American traumatic events. While I caught a lot of them, I'm sure I missed more.
I would have enjoyed reading this slower, with a group, but... I finished it up for the Trans Right Readathon.

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