Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Black Girl Unlimited by Echo  Brown

37 reviews

clarebell23's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

lydiabader's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

5.0

THIS BOOK IS THE BEST! If you don’t cry idk what’s wrong with you because this book has all the emotions! The magical realism is stunning and works so well with the story to elevate it to heights I didn’t know books could achieve. If you want a soul ripping book get this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Please be wary of triggers before picking up this book, it covers many different delicate subjects

ok7a's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, and Rape

jesseisilliterate's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual assault

valeriabee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

I love the style of writing for this novel. The choice to use magic/wizardry in this universe was a perfect one. This story is full of difficult and traumatic topics, and the magical realism made it easier to process those moments. It reverses the use of literary devices such as metaphors and symbolism by turning them literal through the magic/wizardry. 
The book walks the line between memoir and novelization, reminding me a bit of Capote's In Cold Blood. It was stylistically reminiscent of Toni Morrison's Beloved, in particular the tone and the use of magical realism.
I loved the way the narration of this novel played with time. There were many instances in which Echo is recounting the details of various moments at the same time, as if they are happening at the same time. The style and format reminded me of cuts in movie scenes where it jumps from one scene to another by panning similar environments or movements. Or when two different conversations are being had in a movie and the scene jumps between them smoothly by connecting their words so it is as if the dialogues complete each other whilst being completely independent of one another. The fact that Brown created that visual effect in literature is astounding and incredibly powerful. 
I love this book for its style and for its content. I love that it is set up in lessons and each chapter could be a stand-alone, it could be a short story but they work together to tell Echo's story. I love that the book is not shy, the characters are not shy. It is all very real and very forward and written so beautifully. 
I found myself thinking about the ways that this book could be taught in the classroom, especially because of the way it is chaptered off and written into lessons, one wouldnt have to use the whole book (because you know how some schools are mad sensitive about the content they share with their students despite their willingness to require books about white supremacy, imperialism, and the enslavement of black people). 
One of the most appealing things about this book is that it dares to show the bad with the good, show that greatness can be achieved. It provides hope whilst remaining honest about the pain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Islamophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Bullying, and Confinement

Minor: Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Hate crime, Ableism, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Slavery

readandfindout's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Style/writing: 5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Plot: 5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Racism, Drug abuse, Addiction, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Pedophilia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death, and Domestic abuse

samvanz12's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism

whatsjessreading's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

beauty_andbooks's review against another edition

4.0

Written as a fiction-like memoir, you read this thinking it’s complete fiction, when in actuality, this is the author’s own story. With fantasy mixed in, this memoir is such an important read about racial injustices, religion, addiction, and abuse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Addiction, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

locdbooktician's review

adventurous dark hopeful informative sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow! This book was so challenging and covered so much. The lessons that were in each chapter were vital to survival and generational trauma. Learning about the plight of the black woman and it being overshadow by black men enraged me while reading this book. The sexual violence was difficult to listen to in this books listening to the author’s end remote at the end of the book broken and had me crying big girl tears. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence