Reviews tagging 'Racism'

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

50 reviews

moriahleigh's review

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Vomit, Racism, Murder, Pregnancy, Grief, and Miscarriage

nightowlreader46's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Genocide, Miscarriage, Violence, Child death, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Racial slurs, and Cultural appropriation

torturedreadersdept's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Trafficking, Bullying, Child abuse, Racism, Body horror, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Colonisation, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

siobhanward's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

4.0

What I really liked about this book is how different it was than so many books I've read and what I learned while reading it. I've not read many books (maybe any) with a similar plot, of an enslaved person trying to track down their stolen children, so it was a pleasure to read something that felt totally new. I also didn't know much about enslavement in the Caribbean and its history, which had me looking up things as I was reading, learning more about its history and where things were happening.

Shearer created an interesting story that was mostly well-paced. The ending felt a bit rushed after how much build up there had been throughout the rest of the book, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment all that much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Child death and Racism

rubberrosebooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, and Slavery

rin_dawg's review

emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Slavery

Minor: Rape

sundayfever's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Hopeful and heartwarming but doesn't shy away from dark reality. A great story about the power of love and family. I wish the characters got to develop more, as it's very focused on the protagonist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Violence, Death, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Rape

brewdy_reader's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 • 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘍𝘪𝘤 • 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘦 ⁣
𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 31 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 2023⁣

There is no force on Earth more powerful than a mother's love. It is as big as the sky and as deep as the ocean.

It’s unimaginable to put myself into the shoes of a woman whose 5 babies were stolen & resold into slavery as children. My mama bear heart couldn't survive it. 

Emancipation — or the "what came after" slavery is the subject of this book. After being declared “free”, Mama Rachel goes on the run in order to discover the fates of her 5 adult children, to reunite her family.

Although a bit far-fetched at times, because this is fiction it worked. I appreciated the unique arcs of each of her children. I teared up several times and I wanted them to all have a happy homecoming, even though I knew that was unlikely/unrealistic. This book was both heartbreaking and also full of love, hope, courage, and determination.

It highlights the injustices of slavery, but also how post-emancipation life was not all that different than indentured servitude. How many black people were still killed by whites without repercussions. 

I would highly recommend the audio format in order to get the best reading of the accents and speech used throughout the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, Hate crime, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence

mkwoods's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative 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? No

4.5

I love historical fiction and highly recommend this book. The author’s note at the end is worth a read, it gives a sense of her personal connection to the Caribbean and the components of its history she highlighted in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

Minor: Rape and Death

brichneyfloss's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Racism, Colonisation, and Slavery

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Hate crime, and Death

Minor: Rape