Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

54 reviews

happyblkhippie's review against another edition

Ugh I really wanted to like and finish this but the story was all over the place. I didn't know who's was who, or what's going on. Are we in present or in the past. 

The story just moved too slow for me. I read 40% before dnf'g. I struggled to get through the part I did read. It was boring and confusing. I'm not one to "push through" and waste my time on a book I choose to voluntarily read if I don't like it. I typically only give books about 25% before moving on so I was very generous with this one. 

I think the story was probably heading in a good direction, but just took too long to get there. I also didn't care for the writing style. It was too many characters that didn't add to the story and not enough important information to move the story forward. I listened to this on Audible and didn't care for the narrator either. Overall an interesting storyline but poor execution in my opinion. I would give it a 3.25 stars. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Abandonment, Classism, and Grief

Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Racism, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexism, and Mental illness

Minor: Addiction, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence

tinyjude's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

When I found out at the end that this was the first author's novel I was left speechless. What a delight! Every character's voice is distinctive and unique, they are complex and flawed, but over all of them, Covey's voice whenever she just took over in those letters,  completely destroyed me and stood out the most. I could feel without fail all her love, pain and regrets and those were the paragraphs that broke me the most.

The story deals with topics such as immigration, racism, colourism, gambling issues, biphobia, sexual assault, domestic abuse, colonialism (specifically the West Indies-The UK, America and Spain) and its consequences even in the way the characters viewed their oppressors' land as full of opportunities and then became disillusioned and appalled by the bigotry and lies. It also deals with conflicts such as police brutality and abuse, the difficulties both women (just for being women sometimes) and men of colour face in the workfield; as well as how colourism and gender plays a big role in it.

But most of all it's a book about family history, heritage, feeling torn and at a crossroad with your identity (multiculturalism, hybridity, cultural assimilation, etc.), feeling lonely and ashamed by unfair things that happened to you (mostly women), white lies, safety and love. Above all. It's a book about love. A mother's love for her children. Family's love, friends' love, sibling's conflicts and love and romantic affection. Love for yourself, your safety and your life. 

And: What are you willing to sacrifice for x?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Addiction, Grief, Death, Domestic abuse, Biphobia, Rape, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Classism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Bullying, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent, Mental illness, Slavery, and Trafficking

eve81's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Child abuse, Cancer, Abandonment, Biphobia, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Racism, Violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape

jasisreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-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

A beautiful generational tale about the lengths we go to hide secrets, and the consequences that are felt when those secrets are revealed. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Xenophobia, and Alcoholism

Minor: Rape

at different points I did want to shake both Benny and Byron, but I get it… their mother hiding a secret sibling and then dying before all of them could reconcile, would lead to some frustrating behavior

asiminam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, and Addiction

jlfields925's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Homophobia, Biphobia, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, Racism, Lesbophobia, Murder, Abandonment, Addiction, Death, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Cancer, Colonisation, Death of parent, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Stalking

valleysoshady's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

I should have known from the jacket that it would be tough to read after experiencing the loss of a parent. And it was. So many themes.  Emigration, community, belonging, racism, feminism, family dynamics, secrets, being different, and so much more.

It made me love my family more, consider my priviledge, reflect on my parents as immigrants alone in a new country, my heritage. 

I loved all of the characters, their flaws, their strength, their damage and their triumphs. I loved the vein of politics and social justice, ever present and gracefully intertwined with the plot. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Violence, Racism, Rape, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Grief, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Medical trauma, Car accident, Rape, Sexual assault, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Homophobia

livcashmere's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Death, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Racism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Addiction

alpettit's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

2.75

This book was just okay, for a few reasons. First, the editing could have been better. There were some word choices that were inconsistent. The most jarring example is using the words “torch” and “flashlight” interchangeably. Second, I didn’t find Byron interesting or well developed. He was clearly an angry person and career driven, but his connection to the sea and his mother wasn’t entirely believable. Additionally I felt his story arc was haphazardly closed at the end when it wasn’t critical to the story. Same for Mathilda. No one needed to know what happened to her because the story was about Covey and her children, not Covey and her mom. I don’t under understand why the author chose to close Byron’s career loop and not Bennys (she’s still struggling). That brings me to my third point: the ending just fizzled. Unnecessary information/meetings (with Lin and his background on getting rich), no real emotion, and unpolished writing. Almost as if the author realized the book was about to border on long for this type of story and they wanted to wrap up. I might still watch the Hulu series. Maybe they’ll do a better job of showing the familial connections than the author did.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Rape

saramoser's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I was fully engrossed in the characters lives and wanted more story. While heartbreaking at some points, and more than hopeful at others, this story was a rollercoaster of emotions. While fictional, it felt as if these characters were real, and I’m sure their experiences while fictional, were close to those of real people’, and the story felt so real.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Death