Reviews tagging 'Violence'

In Flammen by Megha Majumdar

30 reviews

1414's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Confinement, Transphobia, and Rape

bridgetbo's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, Death, Confinement, and Classism

nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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

4.0

Such a fast-paced read with an intense plot and captivating characters (Lovely was everything). The shifting of perspectives felt fresh and rewarding. The ending is something that will stick with me for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Islamophobia, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, and Xenophobia

Minor: Death

I wanted the ending to be hopeful, but as I got closer and closer to the end, I felt it couldn't be, and I was right. I really felt like Jivan had to die for the themes of injustice and political manipulation to really ring true.

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Confinement

Moderate: Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Police brutality, Rape, and Transphobia

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Colorism, hanging, capital punishment, incarceration

stanisz's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, and Violence

tomato_bisque's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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? Yes

3.5

"When the crowd disperses, they fill buses where they hang from open doorways, and return to homes where the pride of the year is a new refrigerator. They will bend in the fields, earning two rupees for crops that will sell in the city for forty,  and stand by roadsides hawking stacks of dinnerware which will chip at first wash. They will watch, wide-eyed, the one movie that plays in the theater on their half day off carpentry or construction or cleaning bathrooms, while PT Sir, in the government office's special elecator, moves upward."

 
I felt the book was hard to get into, it wasn't until the last 2/3rds of the book I was able to fully immerse myself. The short chapers and shifting perspectives made if difficult to latch on to the story. However, the last few chapters are definately the strongest in the entire book. The overall message is beautifully weaved together

into a tragic ending. As Lovely said, there can only be one of them that climb the ranks to the top of society. The system doesn't allow comfort and equality for everyone, some of them must be stomped down. Jivan serves as a scapegoat to wider society. Her case becomes less about her own guilt and more about the projections of political leaders, the community at large, and the ones closest to her. It was also very interesting to see Lovely and PT Sir struggle with the morality of what they were doing, but in the end choosing to do things for their own benefit.

Readers will be able to reflect on the ending and what goes on in their own countries. This is not just a novel about contemporary India, its about a system we all live under. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Hate crime, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Child death, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

ncoletti's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Blood, Violence, Murder, and Death

Minor: Transphobia

emsavors's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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

I want to be mad about the ending, but I also feel like I can’t be mad about the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Dysphoria, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia

amandaclaire's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.5

A Burning is a tense, fast-paced, and deeply political novel about three characters whose lives begin to impact one another after the wrongful imprisonment of a young, Muslim woman. This book was not at all what I was expecting it to be, but I found it to be an interesting approach to examine how people use tragedy for their own ascension to power. I do wish there was a more human connection made between the characters, particularly between Jivan and her mother, as they sometimes felt like political chess pieces moving across a board. I really enjoyed Lovely's chapters — she was a lively, engaging, fresh voice that added some much needed levity between heavier chapters. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Death, Rape, Medical trauma, and Xenophobia

princess_oatmilk's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Murder, Violence, and Xenophobia