Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Conjure Women by Afia Atakora

52 reviews

laurareads87's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Deeply moving and beautifully written, Conjure Women follows Rue, a young woman who, following in her mother's footsteps, grows up to be a healer and conjurer.  The story takes place on a plantation and alternates chapter to chapter between just prior to the Civil War ('Slaverytime') and just after ('Freedomtime'); the focus is on Rue, her mother May Belle, and their relationships with other (formerly) enslaved people as well as with the plantation owner's daughter.  I love so much about this book: Atakora's writing is evocative, the setting is very clearly established, the characters are complex and well-developed, and the relationship dynamics are compelling.  Atakora describes the historical research she conducted for this book in the afterword, and it really shows in the novel itself in the best possible way.  Conjure Women is an incredible novel and I cannot wait to read more from Afia Atakora.
<i>Content warnings:</i> this novel is set during and just after slavery in the American South and, as such, depicts the horrors of slavery: murder, violence, lynching, rape, torture, death of children, miscarriage, racism, misogyny, forcible confinement, medical violence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Sexual violence, Violence, Rape, Child death, Animal death, Death of parent, Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Confinement, and Medical trauma

leah_alexandra's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

I thought this story was told beautifully and was really well-executed. I liked how the bulk of the story takes place in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. It was really interesting to see how much changed for these people, but still how much was the same. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Incest, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Slavery

thesneakybird's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Racial slurs

keb3's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

erincowgill's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Torture, Slavery, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Child death

fsprouls's review

dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Death, Miscarriage, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Infidelity, and Vomit

msbarnesela's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, and Confinement

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

bgoodbookclub's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

2.5

This book surely is a slow burn with lots of character development. The story flips back and forth from slaverytime and post-Civil War time, with powerful characters and deep secrets throughout all of the characters. The community is interwoven so deeply that you never know how interlaced they can be. I rated this lower because I had a hard time getting into the story, I was hoping it would pull through for me but I still felt like I was waiting for more that I never got.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Torture, Slavery, and Rape

Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism

alayamorning's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Torture

maddiebusick's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Beautiful writing and a compelling story with symbolism that doesn't feel forced. Sometimes it felt just a bit slower than I would have liked it to be to build up suspense, but overall a great book. No character is pure good or pure evil, and it gives a bit of insight into what it would be like to live around the time before, during, and after the Civil War on a plantation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, and Torture