Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

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

4 reviews

simplyv375's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.5

At first I was confused by the wizard references but once I caught on and realized what they representated, which imo, is change and growth I understood. I loved the writing style for this book it was beautiful and even though i'm not black i resonated with a lot of it. This book brought me through all the emotions; sadness, anger, grief, moments of happiness and those are the best books. Although I will say definitely proceed with caution and look up the trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Murder, Racism, Bullying, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

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

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

tanzreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

FUCK. This book was everything. Echo Brown skillfully reached inside of me and performed a miracle with every single lesson of wizard training. And taught me so, so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Mental illness, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Bullying, and Alcoholism