Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

7 reviews

dianakamau's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Infertility, Rape, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual violence, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Confinement

sarahjane1077's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Addiction, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Rape, and Violence

tina94's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Gun violence, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Dementia, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia

Minor: Abortion

battlecat's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Death of parent, Drug use, Gun violence, and Infertility

slantedspines's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Jones’ writing is so impressive and I love how she wove the characters’ dialects into her lyrical prose. At the end of the novel I enjoyed how all of the characters kind of came full circle in the story, including a few people who kept cleverly reappearing. The book carries a lot, generational trauma and toxic patriarchy to name just two very apparent themes.

Although skillfully executed, this story is quite joyless and heavy, so I don’t advise anyone to pick up this book lightly. It is an incredibly raw portrayal of poverty, physical and sexual violence, and death, so do consider your own well-being while reading it.

Trigger warnings for this book: physical/domestic abuse, child abuse, rape, infant death, sex work, pedophilia, incest, murder, burglary, victim blaming, animal abuse, diarrhea, infidelity, gun violence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Infidelity, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Violence, Abortion, and Incest

Moderate: Addiction, Vomit, Trafficking, and Toxic relationship

lisabreads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

 Thank you @harpercollinsca and @netgalley for a copy of How The One Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones. All opinions are my own.

Strong content warnings for domestic and sexual abuse including incest mentioned off page. DM for specifics if you need them.

How The One Armed Sister Sweeps Her House was an incredible read. Told from many perspectives, it’s the story of women and their struggles in a resort town of Baxter Beach, Barbados. One of the main characters is Lala who spends her days braiding hair on the beach. Lala lives with her abusive petty criminal husband and she broke my heart. The characters in this novel were so well developed and complex and yet the plot moves along at a decent pace so you never want to put it down. Highly recommend this read if you don’t mind something heavier. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

whatjaimereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This is a novel that explores the many facets of humanity, through inter-generational trauma, crime, poverty, womanhood, and what it is to live in a tourism-based economy. It was these discussions around Barbadian tourism and the cavernous wealth disparity between locals and tourists that initially drew me to this novel, and Jones delivered in swathes.
Our cast of characters are treated with generosity and kindness despite the difficult choices with which they are faced. Jones’ prose style is fluid and exceptionally accomplished, it’s hard to believe that this is a debut. This is undeniably an important, approachable entry point to Barbadian literature, I look forward to keeping an eye out for her future work.
This was a great entry point for my own #ReadCaribbean journey, with a similar vibe to My Sister, The Serial Killer through the fast-pace and tension building that is reminiscent of a thriller while straddling genre-boundaries in a similar fashion.
*ARC kindly gifted by Headline in exchange for an honest review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Medical trauma, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship