Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo

5 reviews

celery's review

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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

4.75

How many different words do you need to describe a vagina?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

cartermon4's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, and Pregnancy

jmeighan's review

challenging emotional funny informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

Acevedo tells a powerful story about family and female relationships. The female characters are the focus in this story. They are powerful and conflicted; strong and struggling; supportive and fiercely loyal. Acevedo explores what is said and unsaid between family members and offers her characters opportunities to heal the wounds of the past.

I listened to the audio version of this novel which is primary narrated by the author. Acevedo brings a performance that adds another layer of emotion with her vocal storytelling. I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance readers edition of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Violence

thewoodlandbookshelf's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

introvertsbookclub's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

This novel is so full and rich. From class privilege and the vulnerability of women in the face of male violence, to poverty induced gang warfare and the necessity of prison reform, this novel traversed decades, countries and lifetimes of experiences. Exploring what is gained and what is lost across generations and cultures, this story felt like an epic, complete with journeys and trials and emotional arcs.

I loved the way the story explored and celebrated the lives of two generations of women within the same family, both their individual stories and the relationships between the mothers, daughters, sisters and cousins. The narratives spent so much time focusing on traditionally female concerns, from periods, fertility and raising children to cooking and keeping house, and in doing so uncovered the intimate details of the women’s lives and their daily internal monologues. It was exciting too that they were no less interested in their desires and ambitions as they got older. The way that the novel cemented the importance of these ordinary women (with the exception of their magic) and the importance of telling their stories made this a novel I want to pass on to friends and relatives of all ages.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence and Violence