Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Himmel und Hölle

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Himmel und Hölle by Malorie Blackman

20 reviews

epellicci's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

I can see where the praise for this book comes from. As a way to introduce a younger audience to racism, privilege and unjust societal structures, it is straight to the point. Potentially a revelation, happening among a setting with characters who still have problems a younger audience can relate to, like homework and complicated feelings for your friends. However, I did not enjoy the book.

Every relationship was so aggressive, often times to the point of physical violence. There wasn't a single healthy, consistently loving family or friendship. Combined with a plot which never let up on anyone, it made for unlikable characters. I didn't believe in the main couples on again/off again romance, which lacked any tenderness. Blackman consistently gave us the narrative that they hated one another, their "love" felt based entirely on guilt and familiarity. On top of this, I felt that in an attempt to make the message apparent to the young teen audience, all the nuance had been stripped from the plot. There was no subtlety, which I found killed the atmosphere. While I can totally appreciate what it was trying to do, it fell really flat for me.

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karol99's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Very YA and not in the best way. I didn't really like the writing. I was very frustrated with the characters, but I think that's due to the fact that the miscommunication trope is a pet-peeve of mine. They were very young for most of te book, which reflected in the writing- I am not a teen, and therefore might have read this too late as I am not the correct demographic anymore. Concept and idea of the book is very interesting, and enjoyed the book tackling race issues that are ignored and engraved into society today, and have become deeply systemic. But what took me out of it was the YA Cons vs the pros. I think think the way the book is written is very much a product of it's time.

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