Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Black Girl Unlimited by Echo  Brown

37 reviews

chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition

hopeful 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Racism, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse

mengzhenreads's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

4.5

I really loved the writing style of this book, and I found it absolutely heartbreaking but also just so filled with layers and complexity, especially with all the symbolism and metaphors that the author used with magic. I could definitely see myself writing an essay analyzing and picking apart all of the choices the author made. Super smart and super emotional, this also had me trying not to cry at Ikea and failing while reading this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Addiction

Minor: Sexism and Homophobia

emmapaigereads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Alcoholism, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Misogyny, Miscarriage, and Fire/Fire injury

livinthebubble's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.5

I always feel bad rating an important book like this a low rating but I just didn't like it. So many other people said they loved this and sobbed and I'm sad I didn't experience the same thing as them.

Important Read

This book talks about poverty, racism, the hardships that come with being a woman, and the assault of minors, among other important topics. It was tough to read at times, with the graphic scenes here and there, though I still appreciate this being written and having read it.

Ending

Most of the book was just ok to me, although I enjoyed one of the scenes at the end, where the main group write messages on the trees. I thought it was a lovely scene and the messages were uplifting after a dark book.

Magical Realism

I think this is another case of "it's not you, it's me" and me not properly reading what books are about before reading/buying them. I dislike most books with magical realism, and I didn't realize that this was a magical realism book.

Confusing

The wizard stuff was just confusing to me, and the time jumps/scene jumps connected by dashes were so weird and just didn't work for me.

Overall, this just wasn't for me and I'm really sad that I didn't like it as much as everyone else. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, and Racism

amberinbookland's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Grief, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Racism, Bullying, Addiction, Suicide, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Medical content, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Classism, and Alcohol

realisticreader1's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Addiction

nicolewhopickedthisbook's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

No words, just tears

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

overdose, hospital stay

monalyisha's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Full of strength & heart, with stylistic similarities to Elizabeth Acevedo. Brown's largely autobiographical, fantasy-infused YA novel, about rising from poverty & trauma (with whimsy intact & keen intersectional insight), is at its most effective when she weaves her voice in with the speeches of other characters, alternating fluidly between perspectives & timelines. I've noticed that most of the criticism of this book is *because of* these shifts...but they were honestly my favorite part. I think they were done well and clearly. 

The author's choice to write in the first-person, present-tense, however, did not work for me. It felt too straight-forward & matter-of-fact for a story that held so much poetic promise. I think this choice also made the telling feel long-winded (I did this, then I did this, then I did this...) when, at 304 pages, it really wasn't that lengthy at all. The years of Echo's life felt long. I felt like I lived each of her days along with her, minute by minute. And I felt like I knew too much about each of the people she encountered, too (which is maybe how it felt to *live* those struggle-filled days in a gossipy, close, & crowded neighborhood). I should also acknowledge that another part of why it felt so long was probably because of the tough subject matter. It's an unflinching portrayal of hard realities & it hurts.

I'm rounding up because I think the ideas propelling this narrative, in terms of both subject and form, are ambitious. They aren't executed perfectly but it's still hard-hitting, interesting, and emotional. I may have cried the most during the acknowledgments, to be honest, knowing that the story IS true & hugely personal (in a lot of ways), and listening to the author get choked up thanking the important people in her life (including herself). Expect to feel overwhelmed. It's a journey.

TW: Rape, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, drug abuse, suicidal ideation, & more. Very heavy. Very sad. But also hopeful. 

I think this would be a great choice for a Book Club. There's A LOT to work through. I can guarantee that readers will want to talk not just about the story but about a lot of the decisions that the author made, as well (e.g. genre, ending, et al).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Addiction, and Self harm

infairveronaa's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.0

Echo's story started out really strong for me but it did slow up a bit and I can't say all the magical realism regarding wizardry flowed right with me the whole time. I did get a little teary eyed quite a bit though. Definitely a kind of coming of age story and I love the message this sends about Black womanhood as being it's own struggle on top of the struggle of being a Black American. 

"You gotta fight. You got ta keep goin' ta keep it off ya. If ya keep goin', stay spirited and stay up, it'a stay away from ya, okay? It needs you to be sinkin' inside befo' it come around."
~April, Echo's mother

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Car accident and Medical trauma

Colorism, depression

valsoceans's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship