Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

32 reviews

coolfoolmoon's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

I’m not Christian anymore, in fact a lot of times I think I want to be Jewish, but for a long time I believed soulmates existed. At 11 I realized (had to be told) I was gay and went through the torment of thinking why would god damn me to hell when I haven't even lived a life yet? Why would god curse me? I figured God wouldn’t've cursed me, maybe it was humans who were wrong. God made me gay and made me a soulmate and theres someone out there who's like me in more ways than other people and their soulmates are alike. So until I was, mm, 21 I was thinking surely I’ll meet that person someday and I’ll just get it, everything will click, life is complete because this is the person God sent for me.

Well, it was a Jewish woman on tiktok, the girl who wanted to nuke the moon, who said “Soulmates are stupid. i love you on purpose.” Fuck! Blew up my belief!

And I think this book reinforces both ideas for me. I’m so sad, I’m like God, send me mine please, send me the person who is my soulmate and I will love them on purpose, even if we are complete opposites and all we do is argue and get into mischief. And then I’m like oh I’m so happy. They chose each other every time, against the odds, literally, cosmically and internally. It’s so beautiful. I'm so sad and so happy.

It's been a long time since I read a book, finished the last page and had to fight myself from rereading it. I may reread it later in the year. Or every January! It’s so beautiful!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Antisemitism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Bullying and Religious bigotry

mayab56's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.5

Loved it!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Xenophobia, Trafficking, and War

starlitpage's review

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-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? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Sexism

kal1namal1na's review

adventurous funny 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

Reads halfway between Good Omens and a Rick Riordan Presents title - funny and sweet about people coming together and finding themselves and loving one another. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence and Antisemitism

Minor: Homophobia

al3xa's review

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Gun violence and Antisemitism

kys_chai_and_books's review

adventurous emotional funny 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

A wonderfully queer and wonderfully Jewish text that speaks to immigrant experiences during the height of the industrial revolution. Fans of Good Omens and fans of Talmudic texts alike will love this book and its characters.

roseandivy's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

WAUGH. i love. i'm squeezing little ash and uriel and rose and essie in my hands. i love you queer people i love you jewish folklore i love you otherworldly beings that don't subscribe to human concepts of gender i love you labor unions i love you critiques of the american dream and establishment i love you non normative depictions of love!!!!! genuinely could not believe this was a debut novel it's SO GOOD and the ending is so like,,,,,, it's a happy ending and it makes you feel Good but it also doesn't feel Unearned and it's Satisfying and i just. sacha lamb the author that you are. very excited for anything they write in the future.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Antisemitism

Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Hate crime, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Pregnancy

inkwellimps's review

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is SO GOOD. It really exceeded all my expectations. The dynamic between Little Ash and the Angel has wormed its way so far into my brain it's unreal. I'm also fond of Rose as a character too--she grounds the two in their adventure, but she is also unhinged. She has a drive and boldness that compliments the other two very well. It's the little things with the characters--the way the Angel is agender and stays that way, the way names are played with, the way each of them have animal features and how Little Ash's feet hurt him. I am fascinated by the place the Angel begins in and how it develops its own identity to become more present in the world and

grows closer to Little Ash as a result

. I love how the two always rely upon each other as the stakes are raised. I'm also very fond of this sort of take on an angel and a demon that are both not very powerful and relatively sheltered. The sense that these two are a part of a close community rings true throughout the entirety of the book, from the shtetl, to the ship, to New York City-- it never feels as though they've left their community behind even though they are on a journey-- staying grounded by the search for Essie and by the majority of the human cast being literal family. As the angel and the demon of the shtetl migrate and progress in their journey it never feels isolating, which is nice.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Antisemitism

Minor: Police brutality and Injury/Injury detail

kmoz's review

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Antisemitism

Moderate: Death

Minor: Homophobia and Pregnancy