Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

52 reviews

mmefish's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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

3.25

I liked the main heroine and the writing well enough to keep reading but I had a few problems with this book:
1. First of all, the novel is set on a ship in space 325 years into the future, yet there is no advanced technology, most people are uneducated and everyone acts like they’re stuck in 19th century. Oh yes, and religion plays a huge role (how I am tired of it). Not something I expect from scifi but maybe that’s just me.
2. Ultimately, it is a book about racism in space (accent on racism), not about space traveling, life on a space ship, not even about the future. Nothing like that. Imagine “The Handmaid’s Tale” but in a closed space and you’ll get something close to “An Unkindness of Ghosts”.
3. The message couldn’t be more in your face. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture

Moderate: Abortion, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia

blockieran's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

About 40 pages in I was close to quitting because it's very triggering. Fortunately I didn't. The story captured me and wouldn't let me go resulting in two nights spent reading instead of sleeping.

The representation is everything I want in one book. Labels aren't explicitly stated (mostly because they don't exist in this world) but there is a black queer intersex character who seems to be autistic and a trans character with OCD and they own my heart. I want to keep reading forever because it hurts to leave them behind.

Be warned: I thought this was mainly an adventure story with discrimination as a background setting. It's very much in your face though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, and Drug use

peannlewis's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

Difficult but engaging read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Abandonment, Abortion, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide attempt, and Torture

Moderate: Dysphoria, Incest, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia

toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Medical content, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Homophobia

Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Terminal illness

This books setting deals with slavery and all the trauma and abuses that come with it. Difficult to determine which levels to put certain themes, as a lot is implied rather than explicitly stated/described but may still be triggering

ehmannky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.5

A fantastic read. It's not often that you find works of science fiction that truly feel like they get and come from the lineage of Octavia Butler, but that's the only author whose work I can think of that relates to this work. It deals with hierarchies in a similar way, but Solomon's writing shows that the recreation of hierarchies, especially within a society like America, is not going to be solved by simply getting off planet. 

Also this isn't, like, smart or insightful like so many of the other reviews here but

I am so glad Theo wasn't secretly evil. I am so glad I loved his character so much.

TW: A lot of talk of suicide, suicide ideation, suicidal tendencies, etc. I feel like most people who get into the book like me are aware that it's going to incorporate slavery and get into the graphic and horrific slavery based on the real life horrors of America, but I do not know if I was aware of just how much suicide was in this book. As someone with a personal experience with loss from suicide, it wasn't enough to put me off, but it could be for others. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, Slavery, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Rape, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Grief, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Child abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Homophobia and Drug use

Minor: Pregnancy

gdobson's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion

dagmarrugosa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-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

This book was beautifully and lyrically written conceptual sci fi that  leans into complex themes surrounding racism, human culture, social class, and  the power of religion to control people. It  explores diversity of bodies and gender and neurotypes all within the world of a rigid society living on a colony ship traveling from space away from a ravaged earth. I love sci fi like this where the science and tech is not the primary focus, though it is there, but instead the  focus is on the people and their inner worlds.  Definitely an intense and  often  graphic read.  If themes  surrounding sexual assault and racially charged violence are hard for you, this would be a challenging read.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

erenreads12's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.75

I had some doubt about this book at some points, and almost didn't end up finishing, but ultimately I am glad I did. Although clunky in places after about a third of the way in the author truly gained mastery over the pace and characters. The writing developed into a beautiful use of language to pull together a sci-fi-based commentary of a world not dissimilar from our own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Ableism, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Medical content, Torture, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

quorumbutton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Rape

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence

amoscreates's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

the concept and the ideas presented in the book were very intriguing to me. i liked the characters and i liked the settings as well as the world-building that was done.

the story didn't have a clear tension arc though. there were 4 separate points where it felt like the story was finally kicked off but then the tension just dropped and fell flat and there was no progression for a long time.

it felt like there were a lot of individual good puzzle pieces but there was simply something missing which means they didn't connect into one nice solid picture and that is truly a pity.

i wish I could give this book a better rating, but i wouldn't recommend it to most people i know so I can't.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Rape