Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

18 reviews

numerous_bees's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Colonisation, Blood, Child death, Slavery, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Animal death

Minor: Racism, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury

jinmichae's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Listening to how this book came together helps it make more sense. Unfortunately, that explanation came at the end of the audiobook, so I didn't know what to expect coming into it.

I enjoyed the concept most of all, and the vignette of how they came together as a people. Unfortunately, I just didn't like the main character very much. She has reasons for being the way she is, but something about the way she was characterized made her not as sympathetic as she needed to be to explain her actions.

I also feel the overarching plot gets lost in vignettes which are more worldbuilding than progressing the narrative. I wish it was more focused on that main plot: I think it would be a better read as a short story instead of a novella. It also has a "woe is me" component that gets tiring.

I did appreciate that the main character is implied to have autism/gets overstimulated easily in a way that prevents her from doing her very important job. The depths of this discomfort isn't acknowledged by those around her though, which seems odd to me: she has family and friends who love her, and despite the plot important lack of long term memory, they *do* remember her sensitivities. I think that detail would have to be changed to make the way they treat her, and the way she reacts, make more sense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Self harm, Racism, Abandonment, and Slavery

Moderate: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

foxwish's review

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Ableism

kanthereader's review against another edition

adventurous informative sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Self harm, Blood, Animal death, Death, Abandonment, Slavery, and Pregnancy

Minor: War and Suicide attempt

building_a_bookdom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Grief, Mental illness, Slavery, Blood, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, and Abandonment

Moderate: Pregnancy, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Child death, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Body horror, Colonisation, and Death of parent

pages_and_cacti's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

2.5

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Yetu, the Historian for the Wajinru, descendants of pregnant African slave women that were thrown into the ocean by slavers, wants to live a life of freedom from the history she holds for her kind.  She must learn that her history is what makes the Wajinru who they are. 

My thoughts: I actually enjoyed the story as a whole and the meaning of the importance of one’s history. I love the line, “We cannot understand a people that would willingly choose to cut itself off from its history, no matter what pain it entails”.  Our history is who we are and should never be lost. The problem I had with the book, other reviews touted this as an LGBTQ+ book and I am not  as convinced. While Yetu and Oora did develop a relationship, Oora was human and Yetu was a “mermaid”. The Wajinru were described as fish, had both sex organs, and also called an “animal” in the writing. This relationship would seem to be more like beastiality than a lesbian relationship. I understand that this is likely not what the writer meant to portray, but it came across that way to me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Self harm, Abandonment, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, and War

marsh_mall0w's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Genocide, Death of parent, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Gore, Self harm, Murder, Animal death, and Suicide

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Eating disorder

dancingprince's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Colonisation, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Minor: Slavery and Pregnancy

andatherrin's review against another edition

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: Mental illness, Abandonment, and Slavery

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: Emotional abuse

titch's review

adventurous inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Slavery

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Violence, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Injury/Injury detail