Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

17 reviews

whimsylee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

An incredible and nuanced look at institutional racism, white supremacy, difference/othering,  and being a queer black mother in the USA. Rivers Solomon is an amazing writer. The sci-fi elements of this story perfectly complement the themes and the author’s overall message. I fell in love with so many of these deeply human characters and my heart was ripped out over and over again. I highly recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Violence, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Gore, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Grief, Self harm, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Slavery, Stalking, Medical trauma, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Physical abuse, Racism, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Colonisation, and Terminal illness

irenetrexqueen's review against another edition

Just too heavy for me right now. May try to return done the road. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Blood, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, and Misogyny

tigger89's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

4.5

I wasn't sure exactly what to expect from this one, but I was pleasantly surprised. I'm hesitant to say too much and spoil the reveal, but the history of the cult had me on the edge of my seat. Vern's lack of knowledge about the world was also very well handled, particularly in the latter parts of the book where she has to navigate the modern world.

I went back and forth on how well I thought Vern's time in the woods was handled. There were a few scenes in particular where I felt like she wouldn't have left her children, yet for plot-related reasons, she did. Ultimately, I've concluded that it was in character, by virtue of the fact that she was a teenager at the time. A teenager with great responsibilities, yes, but still a teenager, with all the risk-taking behavior and poor judgement that entails. The book is written to guide us to forget this, but Vern begins the story as a child and has barely entered adulthood by the climax.

This story contains LGBTQ and disability representation. For the latter, in addition to Vern having albinism and a vision impairment, the progression of her transformation is treated like a chronic illness that affects her ability to perform some tasks. I also caught a vibe that Vern might be neurodivergent, but due to her upbringing the character lacks the vocabulary to think of herself that way so there was no clear confirmation of such. Similarly, she speaks around her gender and sexual identities — I'm unclear if she claims something like a nonbinary gender identity or not — but readers alert for such will be able to spot that something is there, even if the details are elusive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Violence and Death

kanj1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Gore, Child abuse, Violence, Sexism, Racism, Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, Grief, Abandonment, and Misogyny

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Confinement

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

I have never read a book like this. I have been wanting to get into more eerie books and this totally scratched that itch for me. If you are a fan of spooky but not horror this is definitely for you. There is a lot of gore and body horror stuff that left me thoroughly unsettled. It reminded me of “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka. The whole story was dark and brooding with little flecks of hope and the writing made the characters and setting come to life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Lesbophobia, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Death, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Murder, Pregnancy, Child death, Cursing, Gore, Violence, Addiction, Colonisation, and Gun violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Abandonment, Suicide, Racism, Police brutality, Infertility, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Racial slurs

cookiecat73's review

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

This was a very raw, very honest book that absolutley did not shy away from tough topics. I loved the characters. The first 3/4 were amazing, but unfortunately the last quarter of the book went in a direction that was much less of my thing and I enjoyed it a lot less. Overall though, very good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Racism, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Abandonment, Colonisation, Rape, Sexual assault, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Excrement, Racial slurs, and Slavery

loristoudenmier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Addiction, Confinement, Suicide, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Blood, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Animal death, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Self harm

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading the book. Usually I know at least a little bit of the plot or have some vague idea what it might be about. But this time I knew nothing. And I have to say, it's not a book I would usually pick up, but I flew through it, and I'm glad I read it. 

It's a story about Vern, who is raised in an isolated cult community. After she is forced to marry the reverend and gets pregnant, she flees the compound and tries to survive on her own.

It's a very raw and gritty story, with fantastical and horror elements. I really liked the writing, even though the graphic violence, gore, body horror and visceral descriptions were not my favorite thing. Although, they created a great atmosphere that fit the story. 

I was surprised how mysterious and introspective the story was while still being a page turner full of action. Important themes like racism, misogyny, religion, identity, belonging, motherhood and queerness were very prevalent in the book. I especially enjoyed the found family trope and the survival aspect of the story (please be aware that animals are harmed and eaten, though) as well as the diversity. There are queer, intersex and disabled characters and the protagonist is all of it combined. Vern is a very flawed but also resilient character, I loved her and was rooting for her. The character development is amazing, as well as the relationships and their development. And I absolutely adored Howling and Feral! 

I had some issues with parts of the plot and the pacing, but in the end everything fit so well together, and I was not expecting to like the ending as much as I did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Transphobia, Animal death, Confinement, Murder, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Child death, Grief, Homophobia, Racism, and Sexism

Minor: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, and Alcoholism

dustghosts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

Sorrowland had a little bit of everything that I wanted from the other horror books I read this past October. Visceral and mysterious body horror intertwined with a really compelling and (unfortunately) timeless, unflinching look at the mycelium of systemic racism (colonialism, human experimentation, systemic poverty and the lengths it might drive someone to, religious bigotry, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia and interphobia— etcetera). I think this should be a must-read for people who lean too heavily on “blaming the system” while turning away from personal responsibility for the way that participation in those systems hurts people specifically. Vern is a complicated protagonist with mostly uncomplicated motives— and she compelled me more than anything else about this book. The supernatural “twist” to the story doesn’t soften the issues at hand, but underlines it. At times, it this read a bit too blunt/heavy-handed for me— but by and large this felt like a purposeful narrative choice, so it’s splitting hairs. The horror and the sorrow and the misery of it all is balanced, all the way through, by a thread of tender togetherness that I think will stay with me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Torture, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Abandonment, Confinement, Murder, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Racism, Addiction, Cancer, Cannibalism, Car accident, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Gun violence, and Suicide

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

• 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? Yes

4.75

GOD i did NOT heed the trigger warnings and I honestly don't even have an excuse like I knew this was a horror novel and still picked it up. don't make my mistake and please be safe. Anyway this BOOK!!!! /pos
absolute fucking masterpiece

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cursing, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Homophobia, Sexual content, Slavery, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Self harm, Stalking, and Torture

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Cultural appropriation, Vomit, Trafficking, Rape, Excrement, and Medical content

Minor: Suicide, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Infertility, Terminal illness, and Cancer

graphic: cult