Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon

7 reviews

mirandyli's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.0

This was a fantasy YA novel with a nonbinary, trans, Indigenous, polyamorous main character. I was really excited about the diversity. But somehow the book still missed the mark a bit and it took me a while to finish.

How are most of the reincarnated gods all located within the same tiny town in the middle of nowhere Georgia? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Blood, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Misogyny, Cursing, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Transphobia

ilsevdhout's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Gore

Moderate: Torture, Physical abuse, Animal death, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Transphobia, Sexual violence, and Racism

ofbooksandechos's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Ableism, Transphobia, Racism, Body horror, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Self harm, and Child abuse

CONTENT WARNING provided by the author. This story features a candid depiction of mental illness that, although based on my lived experiences, may make some readers uncomfortable. The main character grapples with managing their symptoms, accepting their own and a family member’s illness, some internalized ableism, and some ableism from others. There are references to self-harm and suicide. Other potentially upsetting content includes: • Graphic gore and body horror • Violence, including murder and torture • Off-page sexual violence, including experiences that involve children • Abuse, including child abuse and off-page domestic violence • Mentions of transphobia and racism, including references to slavery and genocide • Animal death

taratearex's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.0

This was great and I can't say enough how much I wish I had H.E. Edgmon's books as a teen. 

A teenage Indigenous trans God who doesn't know they're a God living in a small town, slowly has to remember their past life to unravel the mess they're in and through uncovering lost memories reckon with if they're the hero or the villain in this story. This book is messy and heavy at times, everyone has a past and everyone has secrets and no one really knows what the "right" thing to do is. I really enjoyed Gem and Willa Mae as a morally grey characters, I loved how queer and trans this book is, and I loved how messy and terrible everyone is. 

I had a bit of a hard time keeping up with the many characters with multiple names and flashbacks, but I do think the author did a great job of continuing to remind you who people were, I think I should have done some annotating to help me as this is generally a thing I have a hard time keeping up with. The plot got a bit winding with some leaps in logic, but I don't think I would have thought twice about that as a teen and for the most part just had to shut my adult brain off a few times. 

Overall, I loved this and look forward to book two! Especially after that major cliffhanger of an ending! Can't wait to reread when the next book comes out.

CW: death, mental illness, gore, violence, torture, self harm, animal cruelty (mild) it's hinted at that something may happen to the dog, but the dog doesn't die, child abuse, racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexual content (mild)

Thank you to the publisher and net galley for the advanced reader copy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mental illness, Gore, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Self harm, and Racism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Sexual content

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Body horror, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Blood

Moderate: Self harm, Grief, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Animal death, Ableism, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Transphobia

Minor: Slavery, Racism, Genocide, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Infertility, and Child abuse

krisalexcole's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Mental illness, Death, Gore, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Vomit, Child abuse, Colonisation, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, Animal death, and Body horror

Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, War, Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Racism, Transphobia, and Cursing

traeumenvonbuechern's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

[The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.] 

 

CN: mental illness, trauma, (internalized) ableism, references to self-harm and suicide, graphic gore, body horror, violence (including murder and torture), off-page sexual violence (including experiences that involve children), abuse (including child abuse and off-page domestic violence), mentions of transphobia and racism (including references to slavery and genocide), animal death, vomit 

 

“For anyone worried you might be the villain in your own story. Maybe you are. I think you deserve a happy ending, anyway.” 

 

Oh. My. Gods. This. Book. 

 

I knew from the first page that this was going to be a five star read, but I never expected that I would love it this much. 

 

“The Witch King” used to be my all-time favorite book, and I still absolutely adore it, but “Godly Heathens” is on another level. I already know I’m going to reread this book at least once before it comes out in November, and many, many times after that. 

 

If you’re looking for a book with… 

 

· villainous main characters 

· reincarnated old gods 

· a t4t4t non-monogamous love triangle 

· a trans- and Native-majority cast 

· amazing mental illness representation 

 

… then “Godly Heathens” might be the perfect book for you. It’s definitely the perfect book for me, and I will probably try to force everyone I know to read it as soon as it comes out. 

 

I’m trying so hard to write a review that does this book justice, but I literally have no coherent thoughts right now, so please just trust me when I say that this book is absolutely incredible. 

 

Please pre-order “Godly Heathens” or request it at your local library if you can! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Gore, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, and Child abuse

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Vomit