Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

American Rapture by CJ Leede

17 reviews

tygeis02's review

adventurous dark emotional funny 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: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse and Vomit

Minor: Transphobia and Abortion

vixenreader's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

Although there are one too many plot points that could have been trimmed, and some characterization could have been explored more, this novel is a beautiful testament to breaking out of self-loathing mindsets (especially in dogma), and learning to survive in a scary world while embracing your authentic self and chosen family. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

Minor: Biphobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, and Abortion

Be aware that this text features religion used for bigotry and cruelty, self-righteousness in religion, dog attacks, attempted rape, ravishing zombies, the apocalypse, being forced out of your comfort zone, disowning a child, separation of siblings, post-traumatic stress disorder, and intense lust/desire.

gdulecki's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

oh my god????? I’m truly at a loss for words right now. deconstruction during the end times?? this was messy and painful and horribly traumatic for all involved and left me with an immense sense of unease. holy shit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

takecoverbooks's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

American Rapture is a LOT. It’s well-written and packs a punch when it needs to, but at times its repetitiveness (which is warranted given the religious questions at the book’s heart) muddles its message and stops the plot in its tracks. It’s a taxing read, but if you’re willing to follow it, check it out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

thereadingraccoon's review

challenging emotional hopeful sad 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? No

4.0

American Rapture is a pandemic horror novel about a sheltered teenage girl trying to find her last remaining family member in a rapidly changing America.

Sophie is a sixteen-year-old private school student in Wisconsin when a pandemic that turns its victims into violent sexual aggressors starts spreading across the country. However, Sophie is severely insulated by her conservative Catholic parents, and with no exposure to television or news, she has no idea how bad it is. The pandemic quickly reaches her own community, and Sophie finds herself alone on the road, searching for her brother, who was sent to a church conversion school years before. By teaming up with other adults and teens, Sophie finally has to confront her own religious beliefs and fears while trying to survive a horrible new reality.

This is a deeply moving novel about what it would be like to be a teenage girl struggling with her own femininity in a modern world that sends women mixed messages about their value. There are some devastating losses on her journey, which are difficult to read, but I found the story oddly hopeful.

Rating: 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎧 Audiobook Notes: American Rapture is narrated by Moniqua Plante, who does an excellent job with Sophie’s youthful voice and conveys the tension and drama of the story.

Disclaimer: An advanced audio copy of American Rapture was provided by Macmillan Audio for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

chloesnotscared's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Grief, Murder, and Outing

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content

kestrel_of_the_pages's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

OKAY. 

Lust crazed sexual assault zombies in Wisconsin. Stay with me. 

We follow a 15 year old girl, rife with Catholic guilt, while navigating massive loss and the extreme religious bigotry of her parents, all while trying to survive a zombie outbreak and the Christian fanatics convinced it is the will of God. Descriptive CW at bottom, may give hints to storyline happenings. 

This was the first book to give me anxiety and fear since I read Pet Cemetery 20 years ago. After the first infected experience, I was ready to dislike this book. It was so uncomfortable and horrible. But it was VERY WORTH sticking through. The characters are raw and real, the grief is thick, the struggles are earnest, the commentary on evangelical extremism are relevant, and the setting is perfect. As a Minnesotan, this felt very true to rural Wisconsin, and it was so horrifying to KNOW the setting. The House on the Rock is a real place, as are "The Dells", and was one of the pinnacle anxiety moments of the story. A zombie chase through this fever dream of a house was so stressful! Many many instances of person on person brutality that leaves the reader wondering who the real monsters are. Heart wrenching is an understatement.

I was not ready to love this book as much as I did. Damn well job, Leede.


Descriptive content warning, lite spoiler:

There are some animal deaths, and there are very graphic violence scenes, including descriptions of zombies pulling people apart, mass gun violence, arson, and attempted sexual assaults, thankfully no rape happens on screen. There are also graphic sexual content descriptions, from both infected and uninfected people. Vivid descriptions of death of all ages.

Thank you Libro.fm for the opportunity with the ALC, the narrator was fantastic!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Suicide