Reviews tagging 'Torture'

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

5 reviews

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

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

laheath's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

3.0

It was interesting, yet heartbreaking, to read about the supposed end of slavery in the Caribbean and how plantation owners used apprenticeships to get around it.  With any prior knowledge of the treatment of slaves, the reader won't find anything new here.  Though the main character, Rachel, is technically freed by England, she has to run away from the plantation owner and overseer who refuse to comply with the law.  She courageously sets out to find her surviving children who were taken away/sold.  The plot was predictable with simplistic writing but managed to give examples of different scenarios when searching for lost family, though each was portrayed as quite a simple process.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Slavery

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Death, and Grief

Minor: Colonisation, Child death, Racism, and Sexual assault

jordynkw's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Child death, Death, Blood, and Grief

kimb2's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Rachel is a slave who has been freed in a way, but not in total.  This story explores the different meanings of freedom and how the meanings can be different for everyone.  In order for Rachel to have freedom, she needs to find out what happened to all her children who were taken from her in slavery.

It’s a heart wrenching story of finding your way, the love a mother has for her children,  perseverance and the cruelty of slavery.

It’s historical fiction and takes readers on a journey from Barbados, to British Guiana to Trinidad and Tobago.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture