Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

39 reviews

skylaturner's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Police brutality

ashlynhare's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Death, Gun violence, and Murder

habitualrereader's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed the characters and their voices, and the writing did a wonderful job of transporting you. That said, the novel didn’t feel particularly plot-driven, and the different parts of the book didn’t seem connected to one another aside from following the same characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Gun violence

badmom's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Whitehead’s writing is rich & engaging, blending historical details about Harlem & civil rights with the plights of his multi-layered fictional players.  Even most of the side characters are vivid and meaningful, if only in helping the reader fully grasp the gravity of poverty + systemic racism in our society. The sparks of humor, sometimes dark and grim, remind us to appreciate the humanity in everyone we encounter. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

ncoletti's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Death

Minor: Sexual violence

davidrb's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

STRONG, STRONG contender for my favorite book of the year, and certainly for my favorite published this year. Wonderfully paced, dryly funny, and with such a tight grasp on story and plot. I came out of it way more emotional than I banked for. The Count of Monte Cristo references...wow!

Savored every minute.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Violence

There's a scene midway through the book that veers close to rape and will likely trigger people who are affected by sexual assault.

averyhawthorne's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Violence

butyougotmysoul's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this novel.  I will say up front - this novel has several typos and errors that made some of the storyline hard to follow - the wrong names in some places makes everything a little difficult unless you're reading extremely closely.  With that all being said - I had a little bit of a hard time with this novel - there were points where the plot FLEW by, but then other times that seemed extremely extraneous.  I'm not entirely sure why some parts were added to the novel.  All that aside, I did enjoy this book overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Gun violence

deandra_lalonde's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, and Racism