Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy by Talia Lavin

13 reviews

klsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

3.5

There was a lot I really liked about this book. The scary look into far-right infiltrative journalism really put me on edge. Lavin is incredibly brave and principled. However, much of this book read like a collection of well-written journal articles. The overall story lacked cohesiveness. I enjoyed each section independently ("We Keep Us Safe" was a standout), but don't go into this expecting a deep dive into the path of online radicalism. It's good as a more intro-level text of vignettes. Lavin's writing is strong, personal, and emotional, though I found it repetitive (and I spent a fair amount of time looking up words). 3.5 stars.

"To those who find themselves uncomfortable with the operation of antifascists outside the comfortable bounds of institutions and, at times, the law, I remind you that the French partisans of World War II were acting illegally, while the Einsatzgruppen had the full support of German law. We tend to like our noble lawbreakers to be comfortably in the past, where time and death have sanitized them into heroes, and to suffer those who struggle against injustice in the present only grudgingly, if at all."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Police brutality, Cursing, Ableism, Body horror, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Sexism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Misogyny, Transphobia, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Death, Suicide, Stalking, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Islamophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Self harm, Slavery, Hate crime, War, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child death and Pandemic/Epidemic

catnapping's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

2.75

This book seems like it didn't quite know what it wanted to be. I wish it had included more of the author's personal experience infiltrating white nationalist spaces. Instead, it came across more as a disjointed series of lectures on the history & current state of white nationalism. 

While the history and background provided was important, it lacked cohesiveness and was in need of better editing. After one incident when the same phrase was defined three times in the span of 5 minutes the lack of both storytelling finesse and editing became pointedly unbearable. 

Given the heaviness of the subject, these issues made an already hard read harder. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Body shaming, Islamophobia, Bullying, and Racism

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Rape, Violence, and Stalking

Minor: Police brutality

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

3.75

 - I think it is important, when you can manage it, to look at horrible things straight on so you know what you're up against. That said, CULTURE WARLORDS is filled with some of the most horrifying and horrific things I've ever read, all the more terrifying because it's all happening right under our noses.
- I think if you've spent any time at all learning about (or experiencing) what the far right is up to, there isn't a lot of new information in this book. However, Lavin really does a great job of linking seemingly disparate ideologies, events, and social and governmental failures together to show how we arrived here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Hate crime, Homophobia, Police brutality, Murder, Suicide, Transphobia, Racial slurs, Rape, Blood, Racism, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, War, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Stalking

kalifer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Honestly, this was a very sad read. However, it is very relevant in our society. Extremist are everywhere, and we have to be mindful of how they interact with the society at large. It's terrifying to me that these people are so hateful and disgusting. And I know they take joy in people feeling that way. It's just depressing that this is the world we live in. But I don't believe it's completely hopeless. Yet, I think it is important to take a break from such hatred, because if we do not let ourselves rest, we risk not being able to fight for each other. I hope the writer of this book was able to rest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Transphobia, and Violence

collins1129's review against another edition

dark informative fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Stalking, Violence, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Death, Domestic abuse, Biphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Colonisation, Gore, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

acy's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Genocide, Homophobia, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

internationalreads's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Body shaming, Car accident, Death, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Xenophobia

readalongwithnat's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

amarchetta's review

challenging informative reflective

3.0

I’m glad I read this book because it reflected the grueling work the author did in her research. It was difficult to get through due to the weight of the material present. I hate to give this a lower star rating because of the incredible insights the author could provide, but I didn’t find the flow/format of the book very readable. I can’t say anyone would enjoy reading the vicious hate spewed by the book’s subjects, but the work itself wasn’t as engrossing as I had hoped. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

litlistening's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Racism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Violence, Homophobia, and Islamophobia

Minor: Police brutality