Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Violet Ghosts by Leah Thomas

3 reviews

rynstagram's review against another edition

4.0

*review based on an ARC

I love how this book uses pop culture references to anchor the plot, as well as the names of people and ghosts. 

I've always thought that trans-ness and queerness have a lot in common with being a ghost, and this book explores that as well as how trauma in general has a lot in common with ghostliness. 

It has kind of a slow start and the pacing could be a bit better, especially with Danny's friendship with Seiji, and the last chapter is kind of a quick summary of how everything wraps up which I don't always love. 

But I was surprised by how much depth and heart this book has; I love being caught off guard with a good book turning quickly into a great one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Transphobia, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Violence, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Incest, Alcohol, Confinement, and Gaslighting

Minor: Torture and Terminal illness

elizabethwebb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Deadnaming, Confinement, Child death, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexism, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Lesbophobia, Incest, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Death, Bullying, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Abandonment

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

 Thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this to review! I’ve enjoyed the other Leah Thomas books I’ve read, so I was excited to dig into this one. Just be warned, this book does deal with a lot of heavy topics like: sexual assault, domestic abuse, rape, murder, addiction, suicide, deadnaming, child abuse, and child death. And just death in general. This is definitely one of those books that you’ll want to pay attention to trigger warnings for.

Despite the heavy nature of the book, the characters stand out to me. Not only does Dani have depth, but so do the two ghosts he befriends. One of my favorite things in the book was his evolving relationship with Seiji. Like Dani, Seiji is just misunderstood and accepts Dani as Dani figures out who he is. Their relationship grew into such a supportive one, and I loved seeing it unfold in the book.

While I loved the characters and the relationships, the pacing did feel a bit off to me. The beginning felt especially slow, and it took me a while to really get into the book. Once we meet Patricia and start getting into ghost mystery solving, the book picks up its pace. It doesn’t necessarily get easier to read, but the story feels more engaging.

As far as the representation goes, I will leave that to trans reviewers (you can read one here). Most of the time, it wasn’t explored a lot unless it related specifically to the plot.

All in all, I’m here for the relationships and the ghostly-ness of this book. I would probably only recommend it to certain people, due to the trauma involved, but it can be a helpful metaphor for that. 

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This is a seriously heavy book, and it took me a little to get into it. Stay tuned for a full review to come on Thursday!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Transphobia

Moderate: Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Violence