Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

24 reviews

mandi_lea's review

dark hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Ableism, Child abuse, Blood, and Emotional abuse

wormiebrains's review

adventurous dark inspiring 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

It is such a deep and meaningful story, I would encourage anyone who wants to diversify their stories to pick up anything by Akwaeke Emezi

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality, Ableism, Hate crime, Death, and Classism

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Violence, Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Racism, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Ableism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Abandonment, and Body horror

Minor: Trafficking, Antisemitism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

rachellle's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was amazing! This prequel was absolutely necessary for me because it enhances the world in 'Pet'. Definitely rereading 'Pet' and then rereading this book again. The conflicts that Bitter, her friends, and Assata face were written with so much depth.

From Bitter's indifference towards the protests, to Bitter's guilt about the angels and not supporting her friend's, to the exhaustion the Assata members face. It's really important that the novel highlighted the structure of organizing and the exhaustion that the work leads to. The conflicts between Bitter and her friends was complex and demonstrated how the world affects interpersonal relationships (Eddie ending their friendship).

The only part I wish the novel spent more time explaining was the resolution of the overarching conflict.

Obviously the mega rich guy is killed and the mayor is spared, leading him to abolish the prisons and replace the entire city council. But what conversations led to that? I know not much of a conversation would have went down but I wanna know what was said.

Overall, this book was so good. What really drew me in was the honesty of the relationship dynamics; their interactions are not isolated from the larger world. It was interesting to see how they all did their best to hold each other up and even fail sometimes. And Bitter's character development was layered and amazing to watch unfold. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gun violence, and Homophobia

pandact's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.5

Bitter and pet can be read in either order because even if you forgot all the character names in Pet, you'll be thinking about Bitter for a long time after you finish it! Every book by Akwaeke Emezi is so relevant and interesting, so don't skip this one just because it's a prequel 👩‍🎨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Police brutality

Moderate: Violence and War

Minor: Ableism and Body horror

cerilouisereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-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: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Homophobia and Ableism

booksandteatime's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Police brutality, War, Violence, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, and Racism

Moderate: Ableism

cadence99's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.75

I loved Pet, and Bitter certainly didn’t disappoint either. it’s truly such a fulfilling experience to fall into their writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Child abuse, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Police brutality

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Ableism

tangleroot_eli's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

I almost DNFed this several times but stuck with it to see all the ways it ties to Pet. But most of the major characters besides Bitter herself bugged the crap out of me. And idk what message Emezi intended readers to take away, but the one I got sits poorly with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Police brutality, Self harm, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Murder, and Blood

Minor: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Child abuse

carolinalopezwatt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Violence, Death, and Police brutality

Moderate: Ableism