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megan_gates's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-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? No
4.0
elenathefirst's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
queerloras's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
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? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Blood, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, and Gun violence
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Suicide, Rape, and Sexual violence
jetpackbingo's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
beekaycee's review
adventurous
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
dino46's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
tommooney's review
5.0
This is a compelling narrative, a deeply moving and important story and by a distance the best teen novel I've ever read.
Wheatle brings brilliantly to life the story of Tacky and his cane warriors, a band of impossibly brave slaves who revolted against their owners in 1760.
We follow Moa, the youngest slave involved, as he witnesses and takes part in the slaying of slave masters and their families on their plantation and those surrounding it. But killing their immediate oppressors is only the start. There will be more white men coming - there always are - and Tacky, Moa and the others must prepare for the arrival of the big ships.
Being a teen novel, we are spared the most brutal elements of everyday slavery - lashings and body-and-soul destroying work is mentioned but not laboured over as it perhaps is in adult novels. But Wheatle doesn't hold back when it comes to scenes of battle and the bloody choices the young Moa has to make.
Wheatle's tale has at its heart hope and bravery and serves as a magnificent tribute to the extraordinary courage of this incredible group of people.
Wheatle brings brilliantly to life the story of Tacky and his cane warriors, a band of impossibly brave slaves who revolted against their owners in 1760.
We follow Moa, the youngest slave involved, as he witnesses and takes part in the slaying of slave masters and their families on their plantation and those surrounding it. But killing their immediate oppressors is only the start. There will be more white men coming - there always are - and Tacky, Moa and the others must prepare for the arrival of the big ships.
Being a teen novel, we are spared the most brutal elements of everyday slavery - lashings and body-and-soul destroying work is mentioned but not laboured over as it perhaps is in adult novels. But Wheatle doesn't hold back when it comes to scenes of battle and the bloody choices the young Moa has to make.
Wheatle's tale has at its heart hope and bravery and serves as a magnificent tribute to the extraordinary courage of this incredible group of people.
tawynmanda1's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
lizzillia's review
4.0
This book tells the story of Tacky's rebellion - a slave rebellion in the Caribbean in 1760 which I knew nothing about before this book.
The story is told through the eyes of 14 year old Moa who is a slave on a plantation and spends long days chopping cane under the watchful eyes of the overseers with their back-rippers. He hasn't seen his mother and little sister for two months and his father works on another part of the estate crushing cane. He has already been 'seasoned' by the overseers and bears the scars on his back. This is a brutal telling of the lives of slaves, the punishments and the fear of the young girls who know that once they reach maturity they will be collected buy the overseers at night.
When Moa is asked to take part in the rebellion, for him there is only once answer. Yes. He is afraid, he questions everything, he wonders whether he could actually be able to kill a man. But he knows that he has to fight for his mother, his sister. There is no choice, even if he is terrified.
I did find it difficult to get into in the beginning because it is written in Jamaican dialect, but once I got tuned in to it - I sped through it. It is a short YA novel - 192 pages - and it does not spare the reader.
A novel for anyone to know more about the slave rebellions.
The story is told through the eyes of 14 year old Moa who is a slave on a plantation and spends long days chopping cane under the watchful eyes of the overseers with their back-rippers. He hasn't seen his mother and little sister for two months and his father works on another part of the estate crushing cane. He has already been 'seasoned' by the overseers and bears the scars on his back. This is a brutal telling of the lives of slaves, the punishments and the fear of the young girls who know that once they reach maturity they will be collected buy the overseers at night.
When Moa is asked to take part in the rebellion, for him there is only once answer. Yes. He is afraid, he questions everything, he wonders whether he could actually be able to kill a man. But he knows that he has to fight for his mother, his sister. There is no choice, even if he is terrified.
I did find it difficult to get into in the beginning because it is written in Jamaican dialect, but once I got tuned in to it - I sped through it. It is a short YA novel - 192 pages - and it does not spare the reader.
A novel for anyone to know more about the slave rebellions.