Reviews tagging 'Death'

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

101 reviews

aschmitttyy's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

This book follows the story of a female main character, told through a recording to her children after she passes away. This woman has lived 4 lives, and up until this point, her children only know about one of them. It's a story about a child from the Caribbean who escapes the island to create a better life for herself, death, rebirth, family and friendship, unwanted pregnancy, adoption, all wrapped up with racial issues that drive most of the plot. It was a slow start, but in the end, I really enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Addiction, and Abandonment

Minor: Death, Violence, Alcoholism, Murder, and Rape

dfriend12's review against another edition

hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.5

3.5 ⭐️ 

I wanted to love this book so much more than I did. I loved the beginning and Covey’s story at the beginning. I felt like there were too many perspectives and stories wound into one that I wasn’t able to get the depth that I wanted out of the characters. They all fell a bit flat even though they had so much potential. I wanted to feel the pain in their stories and not just be told it. Also, I feel like it could have been edited a bit more to cut down the number of big issues the book covered. If there had been a more narrow focus, there could have been more depth. Loved the idea of the story so much. Just left wanting more. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Racism, Alcoholism, Death, and Grief

Minor: Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Rape

bookish_afrolatina's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This was a really intriguing book! I watched the show first, just because I knew that it wouldn’t be as detailed as the novel. The show left me on a cliffhanger, so I decided not to wait for the next season. I needed answers!!

Anyway, I think that the story is really well done. I just found it confusing a few times because there were times when I thought the format was a little confusing. Mostly because I kept expecting the flashbacks to only be from Eleanor’s perspective as she was the one telling the story on the recording. So when it jumped to other characters whose stories she could not have known yet, I had to pause. 

Aside from that, I was very wrapped up in this book. I’m actually kind of sad to leave Covey behind. 

I definitely recommend y’all read this, especially the audiobook!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Racism, Gaslighting, Biphobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Rape

machenn's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Misogyny, and Rape

zara89's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Rape, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

beate251's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a book about secrets and forgiveness.

I have first encountered this story as an eight part Disney+ series. Now that I finally got round to reading the book it's based on I can see why some people have problems with the narrative. It feels a lot more disjointed than the series, with a constant back and forth and introduction of seemingly random characters who turn out to be someone we didn't expect. You'll just have to accept that there's a big cast, and we're following them all.

The book deals with a lot of difficult topics (my content warnings are probably longer than my review!) and it sometimes feels like it's too many, even though some, like the rape, are barely mentioned. The TV show fleshes the time in Edinburgh out a lot more.

The writing is beautiful but I would really recommend the Disney+ series - it makes the book a lot easier to read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Biphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Homophobia

Minor: Rape, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Cancer

evelikesbooks's review

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Bullying, Biphobia, and Abandonment

Moderate: Sexual assault

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-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

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Sexism, Racism, Abandonment, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Stalking, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Hate crime, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Slavery, Blood, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Deportation, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Xenophobia

moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition

emotional reflective

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

4.5

This was a sweeping family saga full of twists. There were heavy meditations on personal identity, memory, legacy, and so much more. While the cast of characters was kind of big, it wasn't confusing or overwhelming. While there were parts I'd wanted more from, most of it was really great. It was also interesting to hear about her research process in the author's notes. I listened to this on audiobook and I quite enjoyed it. Sometimes multi-POV can be difficult for me on audio, but this one didn't give me any trouble! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Biphobia, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Murder, Death of parent, Rape, Medical content, Alcoholism, Cancer, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Car accident, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Colonisation

Gambling addiction, being forced to give a child up for adoption, and discussion of impending climate disaster are also CWs I would add.

erinoconnor's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.25

A story of generational trauma with love at the center. It’s delicious and painful and almost like peeking into vignetted moments in these characters lives. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, Slavery, Racism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Sexism, Alcoholism, Death, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Addiction, and Biphobia