Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Himmel und Hölle by Malorie Blackman

20 reviews

reggiereading's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

great book, i really liked it, but just dwel on this for a moment:
he's 15, she's 13/14.
(timeskip)
he's 19, she's 17.
i have no doubt that they do care about each other and their relationship is real but i just cringe when i think about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Bullying, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Hate crime, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Death, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Rape, and Suicide

amylovesbooksandyarn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

I saw the BBC series of this and really liked it so have been looking to read to book for a while. 

I listened to this on audio and it took me a while to get into in the younger years but as the characters got older it really started to enhance the story.

This is a YA book but it covers some very serious topics, the justice system, social inequality, racism, suicide, the death penalty to name a few.

The story is told from both Sephie and Callums perspective and we get their thoughts and emotions.  The inner monologue is always something you can have in books but not as easily in TV format so this does create a more emotive read rather than watch. 

There were bits I didn't see coming which is always great in a read. I would definitely get the next in the series 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, Suicide, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Rape

keelan's review against another edition

challenging inspiring medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gun violence, and Hate crime

kshertz's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

Wow this book is excellent. It would be 5 stars but it took me a minute to warm up and get into the book. But the concept of two best friends, on opposite sides, falling in love, it’s a tale as old as time. It felt like enslavement and north Ireland mixed together and a resistance was thrown in. The ending is unbelievable and excellent. Read it just for the last paragraph!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Racism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Misogyny, and Child abuse

emmagalt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Classism, Hate crime, Death of parent, Colonisation, Death, Racism, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

theknitterwithabook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

izzyvioletgrace's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

An amazing book facing many difficult topics: racism, societal standards and mental health. I loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Rape, Stalking, Violence, Alcoholism, Mass/school shootings, Bullying, Alcohol, Death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Genocide, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Torture, Abortion, Blood, and Addiction

chuubisous's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring 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? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, and Suicide

karol99's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Bullying, Hate crime, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Slavery, Physical abuse, Suicide, Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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 is an amazing story, but at first I struggled a bit with the simplistic language and overuse of exclamation marks. From about half way through it began to really hammer home the idea that these are children whose lives are being so shaped by their circumstances, and once I understood that, it gave the language a lot more power in highlighting the first-person narrative, as if I was hearing Callum and Sephy's thoughts. 

The adolescent nature of the writing also lulled me into a false sense of security, thinking that the story might gloss over some of the more unpleasant ideas explored. But it hits them head on, pulling no punches, and renders them all the more shocking as a result. But as the story went further and Sephy and Callum grew older, I started to feel the writing pulling me out of the action again. It seems like it was a really hard balance to strike.

That said, none of it takes anything from the phenomenal story and the brutal world these characters live in. What's so clever is that neither Callum nor Sephy knows the right or wrong way to behave to encourage change; and even when they try it can backfire spectacularly when prejudice is so ingrained. It's fascinating and infuriating, which you can see so well as they change with age.

After the incredibly tense ending, I'm intrigued to see where the rest of the series takes the story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Kidnapping