Reviews with content warning for Blood - Punching the Air

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam

6 reviews

reading_diaries's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

This book was incredibly moving. It made me reflect and question my privilege as a white person. I feel so much empathy and sorrow for young black people who experience this awful cycle of unjust violence.

The way this story is told through poetry and art is amazing. The audiobook is amazing to listen to and really paints a vivid image of Amal’s struggles in the detention centre. The way this story is told in verse is incredibly beautiful and again, listening to the audiobook made it that more impactful to hear.

Overall, an incredibly impactful and moving story.

Content Warnings

iheartm4m's review

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challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

brookey8888's review

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.5

Wow was very good. I honestly had no clue what this was about when I picked it up, I just recognized the author. This is such an important story that everyone should read. It does discuss hard, but important topics so be prepared. Some of the poems(?) gave me goosebumps. The reason it’s a 4.5 is because it did take me a while to get used to the verse and kind of connect with the story, but once I did I couldn’t put this down. Highly recommend!

Content Warnings

monicalaurette's review

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emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book first caught my eye because of the beautiful colors on the cover and the imagery with the butterfly. So I picked it up and read the summary.

I personally love to watch documentaries about people being proven innocent and getting to go back into freedom, and I’ve seen ‘When They See Us’ that showcased the Exonerated Five (granted I saw it after purchasing this book but whatever). I wish there weren’t so many documentaries and shows that are about helping those wrongfully accused get free, but I like to see them get to hug their families and drive away from the prison that was their home for however long. I feel bad that I can’t do anything for them, since they are already out, and the most I can do for others wrongfully accused that are still locked up is just retweeting their story. But hopefully stories like this and the ones before it, and the world we are creating today, that that will be less common.

“....like everything that I am, that I’ve ever been counts as being guilty.”

So based on the above, and the summary you’ve probably already read, this story follows a young, black teen named Amal who is wrongfully accused of assaulting another teen (a white one from the rich(er) side of town). Written in gorgeous poetry (and in my opinion sometimes they were like lyrics), this follows Amal’s life from trial to into his time in juvenile detention. You watch as Amal works hard to not lose himself while staying alive. Ways that he does this is using art, both words and drawing.

I gave Punching the Air 5 stars because the flow of the words was beautiful and painted a heart-breaking and emotional story. I wish stories like this didn’t have to be something that is so common that while fictional, it’s based off Yusef’s own incarceration, but instead they were truly rooted in fiction.

“They call it free time and it's the biggest lie because we are still in here.”

I loved the comparison of the courtroom doors leading to the jail with the Door of No Return to America. It was powerful and I felt that for many, especially the younger ones that are in these situations, it has this same feeling.

I know I’ve wanted to punch the real life versions of Ms. Rinaldi in the different documentaries that I’ve seen and I wish that she was real so my anger could be put towards someone else. How dare she help him hone his art to get into a summer program and testify against him like that? (also like…I know why she did it too….starts with a ‘R’)

Wished we could have learned the outcome of Jeremy’s testimony and how it affected Amal’s sentence and if he’d stay in there because Amal’s future rested on that.

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jessnreads's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

invaderlinz's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

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