Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

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

4 reviews

taracloudclark's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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? Yes

5.0

Just Mercy and Hunger Games had a baby and Handmaid’s Tale and Unwind looked on at the christening. Beloved looks down from heaven in approval. 

What an action-packed, hard truth story! And a fantastic depiction of what might actually come about if current societal sins go unchecked. 

Narrators were incredible, giving even more humanness to these already hyper human characters, a rawness that is felt in the core. 

May God have mercy on our souls. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Suicide, Cancer, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Misogyny, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Slavery, Violence, Murder, Racism, and Trafficking

jalexpulliamkepler's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

4.75

An absolute gut punch of a novel with possibly the best ending I’ve ever read. Loses just a smidge for some craft issues that are more than understandable given that this is Adjei-Brenyah’s debut novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Grief, Homophobia, Violence, Mental illness, Cursing, Death, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Classism, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Gore, Child abuse, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Deportation, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Alcohol, and Car accident

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Chronic illness

dominiq_ec's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I mean, this is just one of the best books I've read in a while. Considering another dystopian / apolalyptic favorite of mine, Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin, its so rooted in human rights issues in the United States, and is just dystopian enough to convince you that we may not see this come to fruition. But what if we do? How will you think? 

I thought that Thurwar and Staxxx both died at the end, but I was wrong and now my heart is broken.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Suicide, Cancer, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Cursing, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Blood, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Torture, and Self harm

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Hate crime, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Car accident

I mean, this book does force you to take a relatively deep look at the United States penal system, which does include reading about the crimes some of these characters committed, as well as how they are (mis)treated by those that are responsible for their care. At the same time, these incarcerated folks are fighting to the death for entertainment's sake, so there's a lot of gory, violent descriptions. There is mentions of rape, but no graphic details. There is torture, and loss of life. It's a troubling book, so read with caution.

lycheejelly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexism, Self harm, Racism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Medical content, and Medical trauma