Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard by Echo Brown

51 reviews

letstalkaboutbooksbaybee's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.75

This is not a light book. It touches on so many heavy topics that the author has gone through. 

Part memoir, part magical realism, Echo Brown weaves together her rough teenage experience with beautiful prose and hard life lessons. I struggled with the magical realism at first, but once I found my groove with it I felt it really enhanced the story more than a typical memoir would have. 

I listened to the first half of this book narrated by the author herself and it was so incredibly well done. Thanks to Libro.fm for a free audiobook in exchange for a review.

TW: sexual assault and rape.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

whatcassiedid's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

I really enjoyed this! Magical realism isn't always for me but it worked really well and the non-linear storytelling was cool.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

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

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

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

ashandtheink's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Sexual assault

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

emready's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

catchats's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Sexual assault

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

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