Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.

79 reviews

jaytongue's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

This book deals with something no other book I've read really does, which is the violation of the sexual autonomy of slaves in the Antebellum American South. The central conflict is a relationship between two enslaved boys that should not exist, and exists in defiance of the fact that they were purchased in order to be bred, as all slaves were expected to be as part of a return on investment. The resulting narrative is one that explores the true horrors of slavery in the America, as well as the twisted mentalities of dehumanization and gross disregard for human dignity that justified it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

greenrequiem's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Homophobia, Trafficking, Death, Violence, Racism, Torture, Hate crime, Colonisation, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death of parent, Infidelity, Misogyny, Child death, Classism, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

atamano's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Trafficking, Homophobia, Murder, Slavery, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Grief, Death, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Body horror, Classism, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Excrement

pravda_iskra's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

2.0

The story that is contained in this book is powerful and moving. I enjoyed the historical interludes and the short chapters that were the voices of the ancestors reaching out to talk to the diaspora. I loved Isaiah and Samuel. There was so much potential here. 

The words describing that story are an overwritten, purple prose mess that is almost impossible to parse even as a native English speaker. I had to reread passages multiple times to glean their meaning. Every sentence and paragraph is layered with endless metaphor and a description of the minutiae that do nothing to aid one’s understanding of the text. And because every chapter is from someone else’s point of view, we never get what ultimately I was looking for: the focus on Isaiah and Samuel and their love for each other, not how other people responded to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racial slurs, Slavery, Violence, and Homophobia

peachani's review against another edition

challenging mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, Death, Excrement, Suicide, Cursing, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Vomit, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Alcohol, Genocide, Infertility, and Sexual content

burnourhistory's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, and Body horror

rach94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Rape

Moderate: Vomit

ladygetslit's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

This is a powerful book filled with so much pain. It’s definitely worth reading, but I can’t say that I enjoyed reading it. My main complaints: there are so many characters and they each seem to want their chance to shine, which is not my favorite style of storytelling; also, the whole book felt very heavy-handed, like it was trying really hard to be Important Literature. I would’ve enjoyed this more if it focused purely on Isaiah and Samuel’s relationship, or even a comparison between them and their ancestors. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Rape, Racial slurs, Violence, Colonisation, Blood, and Sexual assault

yvespiders's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

5.0

Though this is an emotional and challenging read, I love how Robert Jones, Jr. crafted this painful yet tender love story. He also seems to make references to things we see today, yet manages to maintain the authenticity of this historical fiction's time period. I fell in love with the female characters and was moved to tears by the two main characters' genuine love for each other.  
 
This book is a reminder not only of the trauma of white supremacy and slavery, but also of how hateful, colonial religious indoctrination feeds into the already existing greed of oppressors, and sadly can make us fight against our natural tendencies to love ourselves and others.
 
Like I said, this is not an easy book to read, so you might want to consider looking at the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Racism, and Violence

kshertz's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This was a very hard read. I think a lot of it went over my head honestly. The time of enslaved people with absolutely no holding back and no filters. I was constantly in tears or sick to my stomach. Which is definitely the seeming point. Isaiah and Samuel find love only again to be ripped apart. There was never going to be a happy ending during this time. It’s just all pain. Which makes it a hard, but necessary read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Classism, Colonisation, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, and Racial slurs