Reviews tagging 'Death'

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

105 reviews

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

saramarie_reads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, and Violence

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Mental illness

therewillbenewsuns's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

I loved this even more than PET, which I really did like. It’s tricky reading books that relate to revolutionary practices— are the ideas in the book a reflection of the author or the characters? Or both? Just interesting questions that I ask when reading books of this genre. Although, it’s hard to limit this to one singular genre. Like Pet, I was drawn to the blurring of reality and fantasy. I found that this was better paced and detailed than PET. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Gore, Police brutality, Violence, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Police brutality

errie's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Police brutality

edenclam's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, Self harm, Murder, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Rape

cameronreads's review against another edition

4.5

For some reason I was sceptical that I would like this as much as Pet but I absolutely did; perhaps even more. The discussions in this book were genuinely so necessary and powerful, but also handled with an incredible nuance. There were conversations about responsibility to make change, when you should prioritise yourself, whether eventually peace is worth present violence, etc. I loved Bitter’s character and the friends she made. The representation, as always, was fantastic. This was a great prequel, and I think this duology is a must-read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Violence, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Grief

Minor: Death of parent, Medical content, and Child abuse

bryelle's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

Such a good book. Students make “angels” that come and fight for them. But at what cost. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Violence, War, and Blood

alexisgarcia's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

WOW wow. this book has such diverse and well rounded characters. the story is interesting and has very important underlying themes. i didn’t realize this was written after Pet but i recommend reading this first for some world building and a linear story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Blood, and Grief

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

discarded_dust_jacket's review

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.75

This story grapples with the perils of using vengeance against the oppressor as a means of achieving social justice. As usual, Akwaeke Emezi’s writing is thoughtful and imaginative. 

I loved Aloe’s character in Pet and I loved him again in Bitter—an example of masculinity that is tender, nurturing, and multidimensional.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death, Murder, Violence, Abandonment, and Self harm

Moderate: Police brutality