Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

In Flammen by Megha Majumdar

36 reviews

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, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Murder

becksusername's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and Murder

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

madlads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Transphobia and Police brutality

leah_alexandra's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

This small book was a real gut-punch. The only thing that's keeping it from a full 5 stars is that the brevity plus multiple perspectives meant that some pieces of characterization were slightly underdone, but not by much! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

casey_sunshine's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Transphobia and Medical content

sepitz's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Police brutality, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Rape, Transphobia, and Medical trauma

closelywatchedfilms's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Murder

deezy's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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

5.0

This was a tough read (and I can't really say I "enjoyed" it in the traditional sense) but it was timely and well-written. Each character’s perspective feels unique and alive, and their actions are believable even when they're terrible. I felt like the demonstration of a person being seduced into doing increasingly awful things on behalf of a right-wing political party was realistic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Fatphobia, Racism, Rape, Excrement, and Police brutality

Minor: Suicide

There is a description of a terrorist attack on a train.

A character is executed by hanging.