Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

In Flammen by Megha Majumdar

35 reviews

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

skudiklier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was deeply upsetting. Well-written, with some beautiful prose at times, but wow. My heart is heavy and angry and sad and frustrated. A really intricate and thoughtful tale of corruption. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Murder, Xenophobia, and Police brutality

Moderate: Sexual assault and Chronic illness

jaina13's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Islamophobia, Transphobia, and Death

meganelise's review against another edition

reflective sad 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

Sad but not unexpected ending. I loved the character of Lovely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Islamophobia, and Death

Moderate: Transphobia, Rape, and Police brutality

tpantozzi's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Transphobia, and Medical trauma

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

rickieskidmore's review against another edition

informative 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Islamophobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Police brutality, Death, and Sexual assault

Minor: Transphobia

there is a very descriptive scene of a whole family being murdered. it does add a lot to the plot but I felt squeamish afterwards

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

cheesepuppy's review against another edition

challenging

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

This was quite the story. The writing is so great that I felt like I was right there with the characters. I have so much I want to say, but I'd be walking into spoiler territory. Anyway, definitely read this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Islamophobia, and Confinement

Moderate: Transphobia, Rape, Sexual violence, and Police brutality

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