Reviews tagging 'Grief'

In Every Mirror She's Black by Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström

21 reviews

vvsmydiamonds's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

I read nearly 400 pages in hopes of a satisfactory ending for each of the hopeful protagonists— I was disappointed. As always, I wanted to love this book but it appears it wasn’t made for me. 
Also, I strongly dislike the untranslated Swedish conversations, specifically those between Jonny’s family. How are you gonna publish a book in English and not make it a point to translate arguments between secondary characters? I had to pull out a pencil, paper, and good ol’ google translate multiple times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Grief

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Sexual content, Islamophobia, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicide attempt, Infertility, Abortion, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

elizabethwb's review

challenging emotional informative tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Grief, Genocide, Suicide, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Fatphobia, Body horror, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, Sexism, Classism, Rape, Death, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death, Abortion, Ableism, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, Suicide, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racism, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Murder, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Alcohol, Blood, and Cancer

moniipeters's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Police brutality, Ableism, Abortion, Blood, Drug use, Genocide, Cancer, Deportation, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Mental illness, Sexual content, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

crouchingdoctorhiddenbias's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Islamophobia, and Terminal illness

crankylibrarian's review

emotional reflective tense 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

3.75

3 African and African American women struggle to find a place for themselves in the insular homogenous culture of Sweden. Calls into question the idealized Nordic paradise: the “happiest place in the world”  may not be so happy for those of darker hue.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, and Islamophobia

fenemiestolovers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Whew…what a gut-wrenching picture of what it can mean to be a Black woman today. The characters are imperfect and human and just trying to do the best they can with what they know and what they have. I definitely understand it wouldn’t be for everyone and I can’t speak to the accuracy or quality of representation. And yet, I won’t forget this one anytime soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Suicide, Xenophobia, Classism, Death, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcohol, Deportation, Infertility, Trafficking, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Blood, Child death, Violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Ableism, Infidelity, Murder, Pregnancy, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, War, and Abortion

kmyr1123's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gaslighting, Death, Sexual assault, Grief, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Racism, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexism, Suicide, and Racism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Ableism, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, War, Classism, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia

Minor: Islamophobia, Medical content, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Alcohol, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Infertility, Trafficking, Violence, Hate crime, Murder, and Sexual assault

thatenbyisisreads's review

emotional informative reflective sad 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

5.0

I wish I could read this book for the first time again. I loved all of the girls even though I was disappointed a couple of times with Kemi and Brittany. Hopefully, there's a future where they both realize their worth. It was very sad to see Kemi and Brittany not become friends because I know in a perfect world, Kemi would've helped Brittany out in her situation at the end of the book. I hated whenever Brittany and Kemi would complain about stupid shit when Muna was going through such traumatizing experiences in her day-to-day. She deserved so much better.. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, Classism, Confinement, and Domestic abuse