Reviews tagging 'War'

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

4 reviews

amelianotthepilot's review against another edition

5.0

In a near future dystopia, America has now monetized 'hard action sports' wherein incarcerated people participate in battle royal style murdering to be released from their sentences early. It intersperses real historical facts against this jarring dystopian world of societal failure. The absurdity of society in this book highlights how truly not far off we are from it. In this world, Americans watch and cheer on their favorite incarcerated competitors as they murder each other in sports stadiums broadcasted on TV behind a paywall. It highlights how many people in prisons could be in there for something as simple as having weed, to a mistaken sentence, to murdering their rapist but they are all treated equally horribly in the eyes of the prison. It shows how the prison reform system is not helping communities or addressing route problems but instead tears apart families and essentially exploits incarcerated people for forced labor.

This book should be a must-read for everyone, not only is it extremely well written and truly leaves you feeling a large range of emotions while exploring different perspectives but it is also educational and thought-provoking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Homophobia, Murder, Grief, Police brutality, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Sexism, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, War, Self harm, Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Trafficking

paperknotbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Gritty, bloody, violent, crushing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Slavery, Confinement, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Violence, War, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Racial slurs

hawk_just_hawk's review against another edition

I know it’s an important topic and is working is all towards abolition, but I couldn’t handle all of the sinking despair this was bringing up in me. I felt like even the winners would be losing somehow. 💔😰

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Toxic friendship, Torture, Confinement, Body horror, Gore, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Murder, War, Racism, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

rhiannonafternoon's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Police brutality, Confinement, Racism, Suicide, Slavery, Mental illness, Blood, and Racial slurs

Minor: Rape