Reviews with content warning for Racism - Reprieve

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Reprieve by James Han Mattson

59 reviews

ladyinverse's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

1.0

(audiobook)
i gave this book a try because it was labeled with the LGBTQIA tag, so i went for it for my June reads for pride month.

the only rep there was, was a young male who was stereotyping young black men to not be studious and this young male also was obsessed with his crush on his English teacher and stalked this male teacher across the globe to try and be with him. not a great rep for the book.

the horror aspect of the book was at least interesting of a concept: full contact horror house but a side secret plan makes everything go very very wrong on a tour where a character is murdered as a result.

none of the characters, aside the main girl Kendra, was even remotely likeable.

the book was.. not great overall. the writing was loquacious in the most boring way. anytime a character spoke, instead of using "he yelled" or "she spoke softly" or literally anything else, every time a character interaction happened the usage and verbage was "s/he said."

i would have died from alcohol poisoning if i was doing shots every time I heard the word said/says.

Content Warnings

soph_solberg's review

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dark mysterious tense

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? It's complicated

4.5

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megwilli's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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riflelizards's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

hmn54437's review

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challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Wow.

That’s the only word bouncing around in my brain as I finish this book. James Han Mattson has flawlessly stitched together a gut wrenchingly important story of the harsh realities of racism, fetishization, and dehumanization of POC in America.

Each perspective we read from offers a different insight into each of these topics climbing higher and higher revealing more and more until we reach the peak in Cell Five.

We go through this book peeling back layer upon layer of social horrors until we reach the core at the biggest reveal of the story: finding out that John fabricated this whole plan for Bryan’s death as an attempt to a) gain more business and b) a charity case to feed his savior complex seen in how he uses the court case as an opportunity to flaunt his donation to the NAACP on behalf of Bryan.

Between this reveal and Leonard and Jaidee’s racism and fetishization, we’re left with an absolute gut punch of a novel. Paired with Mattson’s gorgeous prose and dialogue and the phenomenal combination layout of court scenes, character explorations, and moments inside the Quigley House this book was everything I wanted and more.

Content Warnings