Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

54 reviews

karyan1's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Racism, Grief, Death, Homophobia, Bullying, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Addiction

kimveach's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

I loved this book.  It had some of my favorite elements:  dual time lines, interesting history, flawed people.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Addiction, Grief, Racism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Biphobia, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

ruth_power's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.0

Great book! Relatable characters where you love them one minute and hate them the next. Insightful into the Chinese-Carribean experience and the sense of dual identity many Carribeans felt when they settled into new lives in the UK. Short chapters keep you turning the pages.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Rape, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Domestic abuse

midnightverde's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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 was hooked from the very beginning! What an amazing read about family, love, trauma, grief, culture, and more. I was so invested in the story and it did not disappoint. I love everything about it!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Rape, Abandonment, Death, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, Biphobia, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, and Slavery

Minor: War

franklola's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Addiction, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Rape, Grief, and Suicide attempt

annabulkowski's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Death, Cancer, Biphobia, Addiction, Rape, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicide, Slavery, Outing, Murder, Homophobia, Cursing, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Classism, Child death, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Self harm, Racism, and Misogyny

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Biphobia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual assault

jessbasuthakur'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

3.5

Thank god this book came at the time it did. 

Despite not being a perfect book by any means, I genuinely enjoyed reading this book (for the most part) after reading three okay-to-bad books in a row. 
Things I liked: I really loved Eleanor's story, reading how she overcame all the hardships and struggles she endured in the islands and England to make it to Southern California and make a home for herself and her family.  The simple and pared back prose allowed the plot of the story to really shine while still being descriptive when describing the different settings and food. The portion of the story that took place on the islands was especially well written.  Bunny and Pearl's characters were my favorite next to Covey/Eleanor. 
The mixed bag: The book tried to deal with WAY too many themes and in the end failed at exploring many of them in depth.  I truly think if we took away the bisexual and DV survivor trope from Benny, there would still be enough to create the distance between the siblings to keep the story on the same trajectory.  Going against one's immigrant parents' wishes is enough to drive a wedge between oneself and their family.  Other themes not explored well were police brutality, being Black in the US/UK, mental health issues, and the plight of the child given up for adoption. I'm sure I'm missing some because there were SO many.  I did appreciate the multi-generational traumas, foreignness/isolation, and the importance of food within a culture.  We also heard from way too many characters.  Although in one way I appreciated seeing how each person affected/was affected by Eleanor, it was simply far too many ancillary characters and it took away time from Eleanor's more interesting story. 
The bad: The pacingggg. The book took far too long to get into it, and by the end, it flew at hyperspeed.  I think the pacing picked up dramatically in the end to afford the book the neat, clean, "tied in a bow" package ending Wilkerson was probably going for, but I personally don't think it needed such a clean ending (another thing I didn't like).  I think the way the book was framed it could have afforded a little more nuanced, "dirty" ending because I feel the neat ending didn't really fit the book well.  There is a nice satisfaction to having a happy ending, don't get me wrong, but it just felt too forced. 

Overall, worth the read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Racism, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape

djreads's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A story of loss and unwavering love. A story that asks, what are you willing to do? This book is a slow burn but well worth it. The story of this family and what one woman endured is touching and brilliant. This novel explores the complexities of family, race, immigration, and womanhood while using linguistic mastery to make descriptions richer and more beautiful. The sea is quite possibly the shining character in this novel and it made me long for a trip to see the power of the ocean. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Slavery, Violence, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Biphobia, Cancer, Classism, Colonisation, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Bullying, Death of parent, Rape, Sexism, and Domestic abuse