Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa

7 reviews

orlagal'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, Colonisation, Cursing, Classism, Confinement, Police brutality, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, War, Abandonment, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Deportation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Cancer, Gore, and Medical content

cheye13's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is an amazing book. A very important read – though difficult – for any American. Not a five star because it didn't strike me personally; I didn't get anything from the story that's unique to me, that anyone else won't pick up on. Still an expertly crafted and vitally important book.

Yapa's nuance with each character and the world within the book is so impressive, and his use of language is flawless. He strikes an excellent balance between empathy and distance, using a stream of consciousness narration that lets the scenes of intense violence ebb and flow, interspersed with scenes of beauty.

I was way too young to remember anything of the WTO protests, but I could not divorce the book from vivid memories of the 2014 BLM protests. A wonderful book, and an unfortunately apt one for our current sociopolitical climate.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Blood, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief, Hate crime, Death, Death of parent, Xenophobia, War, Genocide, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Vomit, Colonisation, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

the majority of the book is graphic, detailed police brutality. It is brief and only once, but there is a description of Sri Lankan civil war that includes horrific and ethnically motivated violence.

emoryscott's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring 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? No

5.0

This was a fantastic read. I had actually never even heard of the WTO protests, despite having  education in international studies. I love the way the story developed through each of the characters’ perspectives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Violence, Murder, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

k8lynn's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring 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? No

4.0

beautifully written, i love how this author describes things. it's very compassionate and written in varying perspectives that give you an all-encompassing understanding of the protest these characters are attending. it takes place in 1999 Seattle, but it could easily fit with a more modern storytelling as well, ie. the Trump era. my only qualms with this book are it's slower paced than i would like and the events of one day are drawn out. it didn't pick up for me until i was around page 100, but i still enjoyed it nonetheless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, and Gun violence

morepeachyogurt's review against another edition

dark inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, and Gun violence

Moderate: Death

sareadchou's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Gun violence

steppheses's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Gun violence