Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

19 reviews

alexstartsthings's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Classism, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Terminal illness, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Slavery, Violence, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture

Minor: Vomit and Outing

sgs's review against another edition

dark hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.0

This book is incredible!!!! Frustrating and inspiring and flawed, Buck’s story has you equal parts mad at him and cheering for him. 
I found 90% super disturbing and hard to read, so be mindful, don’t go in for a lighthearted read.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Dysphoria, Violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Cultural appropriation, Bullying, Racism, Toxic friendship, Slavery, Physical abuse, and Hate crime

david_brent's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective tense fast-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Racism, Drug use, Violence, Torture, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, and Sexual content

cheye13's review

challenging funny tense fast-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

2.0

Wayyy too boot-licky for me.

This is excellently written and maintains a strong voice throughout. The depiction of race relations did not pull punches. The story surprisingly sustained a sense of broad hope.

I wanted more of everything. I wanted it to push further in every way. I wanted a deconstruction of capitalism, I wanted a deconstruction/exploration of masculinity (esp in white vs black spaces), I wanted a deconstruction of ambition. I disagree with reviews that say the back end went off the rails - it didn't go far enough off the rails.

Ultimately, it felt like a middle class cishet black man's white collar day dream - he gets to be a jetsetter, he gets to earn big bucks, he gets a nickname, a driver, a girl - he gets to Save The World. Which is a very good and important story to tell - there's plenty of those white stories out there, and this is miles better than any of those. But pitching it as a Sorry to Bother You comp does it a disservice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Classism, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Medical content, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Cancer, Slavery, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Toxic friendship

also: minor mention/depiction of lynching (in a photograph), moderate discussion of incarceration, discussion of drug dealing in addition to drug abuse. A brief discussion of outing somone, not followed through. The hate crime I tagged is a scene of white coworkers "pranking" the only black employee by dumping white paint over him; not sure if it qualifies as a hate crime, but it definitely felt like one in context.

laynemandros's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Classism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Racism, and Terminal illness

peachani's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Hate crime, Bullying, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Racism, and Cursing

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Grief

Minor: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Ableism, Addiction, Classism, Death of parent, and Terminal illness

kaitlinlovesbooks's review

challenging reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Emotional abuse and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Cursing, and Addiction

literarylion's review against another edition

dark funny 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

3.75

Pros:

• Sharply satirical but not overly didactic 
• Strong character development

Cons:

• The first half far outshone the second, in my opinion
• Pacing seemed uneven -- very fast at some points and much slower at others, without a discernable reason

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, and Violence

onkenzisshelf's review against another edition

challenging inspiring 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

5.0

What I Liked:

• Everything. Seriously, this book was incredible.
• This was SUCH a good look into racism and ableism in the workforce, as well as a good picture of how greed and money can change someone.
• This book made me uncomfortable and made me think, for all of the right reasons.
• I HATED the characters I was supposed to hate, and loved the ones I was supposed to love. The author rounded his characters out beautifully.
• The narrator of this one was FABULOUS. One of the best narrators I've listened to.

You Should Read If You Like:

• If you're working towards antiracism, I highly suggest this one.
• DEFINITELY look at the TWs before picking this one up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Ableism, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Addiction

Moderate: Torture

leah_alexandra's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This book was good. It got a bit heavy-handed at times, but it's satire, so not that unexpected. I thought the starting characters were really well-developed, but by the time we get introduced to new characters in the second half of the book, I never felt like we really got to know them as people. All-in-all, an interesting read that won't shift your perspectives too much if you already have a fully cynical outlook towards corporate America/start-up culture. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence