Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza, Abby Sher

14 reviews

lcl_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

One thing I will say about this book is that I do not think it should be marked as young adult. While the main character is a teenage, it tackles some pretty traumatic events.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Abandonment, Violence, Rape, Deportation, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Child death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Murder and Trafficking

joisaddler's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, Deportation, Medical content, Xenophobia, Death, Gun violence, Confinement, and Murder

maevedora's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Murder, Xenophobia, Racism, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, Deportation, Death of parent, Death, Child death, and Confinement

Minor: Blood and Cursing

writingcaia's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Hate crime, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Deportation, Grief, Murder, Xenophobia, Child death, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery

Minor: Rape

bookcaptivated's review

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Deportation, Gore, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Child death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Confinement, Racial slurs, and Vomit

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Animal death, Slavery, and Torture

lostbuthey's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Im Jahre 2032 werden in den USA alle Menschen mit einem ID-Chip überwacht. Vali's Familie ist vor Jahren von Kolumbien in die USA geflohen. Je mehr Zeit vergeht, desto mehr werden die undokumentierten Immigrantinnen und Immigranten regelrecht gejagt. Die 16-jöhrige Vali ist eine von ihnen. Als der Chip ihrer Mutter aufhört zu funktionieren, muss Vali für sich und ihren kleinen Bruder kämpfen. Denn es gibt nur einen sicheren Bundestaat: Kalifornien. Doch das liegt am anderen Ende des Landes.

Vali ist eine inspirierende junge Frau und gehört definitiv auf jede Liste mit starken fiktionalen Charakteren. Sie ist so jung, so stark und hat so viel durchgemacht. Sie kämpft und kämpft. Auch wenn der Staat und die Natur sie in die Knie zwingen wollen, findet sie einen Weg nicht nur sich selbst, sondern auch den Menschen um sich herum Kraft zu geben. Genau das ist einer der Gründe weshalb sie eine gute Anführerin ist. Ich könnte euch genau sagen and welchen Stellen sie bewusst oder unterbewusst zur Anführerin wird. Davor habe ich riesigen Respekt. (Mein Gefühl sagt mir, dass sie im zweiten Band grosses leisten wird und ich freue mich unglaublich darauf das zu sehen) Trotzdem ist sie noch eine ganz normale Jugendliche, die sich mit den Problemen des Teenager-Daseins herumschlagen muss - zumindest zu Beginn.

Auch die Nebencharaktere sind unvergesslich: die alte Frau, die so viel für undokumentierte Flüchtlinge tut; die Mütter, die alles für ihre Kinder geben; der zähe Mann mit dem weichen Kern; die Kinder, die plötzlich erwachsen werden müssen; der junge Mann, der den Sternen folgt... Ausserdem sind alle Charaktere wirklich divers: Es gibt sie in allen Grössen, Formen und Farben.

Das bringt mich zu meinem nächsten Punkt: Foreshadowing (falls jemand weiss, wie man das im Deutschen nennt, lasst es mich wissen). Schon recht früh gibt es diese kleinen Hinweise darauf was später geschehen wird und wie Vali sich entwickeln wird. Das heisst aber nicht, dass das Buch langweilig war. Im Gegenteil sogar. Für mich hat es das nur noch interessanter gemacht.

Dieses Buch ist von Anfang bis Ende grossartig geschrieben und übersetzt. Es werden Themen wie Immigration, Rassismus und Ausländer*innenfeindlichkeit, Propaganda und (Existenz-) Angst behandelt. Aber auch Klimawandel, Kontrolle durch den Staat, Trauma und Traumabonding, der Umgang mit Flüchtlingen und Hoffnung spielen eine wichtig Rolle.
Paola und Abby haben einen wirklich tollen Schreibstil. Ich liebe es, wie sie (vor allem am Anfang des Buches) Idyllen erschaffen und diese sogleich wieder zerstören oder wie sie direkte und indirekte Rede mischen, um lebendige Dialoge zu schaffen.
Stefanie hat bei der Übersetzung des Buches grossartige Arbeit geleistet. Besonders gefällt mir ihre Entscheidung, dass Vali gendert. Das habe ich so vorher noch nie in einem Roman gelesen und mich entsprechend darüber gefreut.
Jedes Wort in diesem Buch ist präzise ausgewählt und sorgfältig übersetzt worden. Es spiegelt das Thema Propaganda wider, das eine sehr zentrale Rolle in dem Buch spielt. In meinen Augen zeigt das, welche Macht Worte haben.

Auch die Formatierung des Textes ist sehr interessant. Das Buch spielt mit kursiv und fett gedruckten Worten, die dem Text noch mehr Tiefe verleihen. Ich denke, um alle Nuancen des Textes zu finden, muss man ihn mehrere Male lesen.

Ich empfehle dieses Buch allen, die auf der Suche nach Hoffnung in dieser Welt aus Krieg und Zerstörung sind und jene , die Dystopien mögen und/oder Bücher mit starken weiblichen Protagonistinnen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Deportation, Grief, Child death, Death, Racism, Rape, and Violence

theroastedbookery's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Wow.  This book was a hard read.  Not in the difficulty of the writing but in the subject matter.  The main character's journey is one of pain and suffering.  It is not a world that is too hard to imagine, though I hope it never comes to pass.  The political messages in the book are clear and present.  This book could serve as a warning for what could happen should Americans choose to turn a blind eye to immigration, climate change, and rhetoric rather than working to help and solve problems in a peaceful and inviting way.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Trafficking, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Murder, Deportation, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, and Cursing

Minor: Sexual violence and Rape

rinku's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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? No

3.0

Sanctuary was such a different book than I expected it to be. Being tagged as a dystopia, I thought it would be more like a classical YA dystopia. Instead, it was a much more contemporary book talking about the struggles of so-called illegal immigrants. In this aspect, the book was good, but the writing itself was lacking at some points, so I couldn’t give more than three stars. 

The general dystopian setting had so much potential, but this potential was barely used. Vali, her mother, and her brother live in a future America where so-called illegal immigrants like themselves are being persecuted. This setting was so creepy since it was not too unrealistic, just like the escalation of the situation which forces Vali and her family to flee. While trying to escape, their mom gets caught by the deportation unit and Vali and her brother are on their own. 

Around 80% of the novel thus just consists of them fleeing from their home and trying to find their way to California. Most of this was just so depressing, hopeless, and probably depicted the struggles of immigrants quite well. Besides this, Vali’s feelings are portrayed so well. Some parts were a bit over the top with the bad guys and also

Vali fell in love with Malakas way too fast

. At least,

they arrive at their destination in the end. It would’ve been so depressing if they died while trying

. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the writing itself. At many points throughout the novel, there’s just too much telling, like about Vali’s past or the ending. Additionally, there were not many descriptions, so it wasn’t very vivid. 

Like I’ve said, I see what kind of story Sanctuary was trying to tell and I appreciate the authentic insight into the topic. Nevertheless, if the storytelling had been better, I would’ve given a better rating as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Blood, Child death, Deportation, Gun violence, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Rape and Slavery

zoethebookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Police brutality, Racism, Child death, and Sexual harassment

meb1073's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

This storyline basically followed the concept of Trump reaching levels of full on dictatorship. I didn't find this dystopian world totally unbelievable (except they'd probably use phones rather than an actual microchip).  In fact, it was neat how they took this concept and made it into something creative. It reminded me a lot of how people own fake IDs and the like. I also enjoyed the diversity of characters and how that was used-especially because I enjoy Hispanic culture.
My real issue with the plot was that at times it was unrealistic...not because of the premise, but the way that the main character was able to survive. One example was when she

received $10,000 from Sister Lottie for the coyote...

. I hate to say it, but why would she give so much to a total stranger? Especially with everyone else there at that. Maybe if the mother was close friends with her, but still. Even in general, while there are a lot of undocumented immigrants, it seemed unrealistic that there would be SO many living just in their town...I mean her best friend, the store owner, the soccer coach, and them? That's a big group of people. I feel like it would've been more interesting had it been more rare or secretive.  
The plot at times was corny, if not predictable. The

deaths of many of the characters

was predictable, maybe because of the scenario but also it just seemed set up to happen. The

love story with Malakas and Val

was an example of this. It took place over MAYBE a week or two, and honestly if I was starving and that close to death I wouldn't even be thinking of that. Maybe when they got to their destination, but not still travelling. 
I think this book was great, but it had a lot more potential to be greater.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual harassment