Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

My Mother's House by Francesca Momplaisir

10 reviews

remigves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, and Incest

Minor: Animal cruelty

rachaelwho's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

Trigger warning for pretty much everything you can think of- I don't think I would've read it if I'd known quite what I was getting into. Expertly written and very original approach to material we've seen before in different ways. That poor house broke my heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Dementia, Incest, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Violence, Deportation, Suicide, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Mental illness, Torture, Animal cruelty, Classism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, and Rape

battlecat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Very good writing. The whole story is incredibly dark. Would recommend to someone who likes getting in the head of a psychopathic criminal, but not to someone looking for something exciting or hopeful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Self harm, and Infidelity

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Incest, Cancer, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Death

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 My Mother’s House is very hard to characterise - part literary thriller, part realistic fiction, part horror and more than a dash of magical realism. It’s the story of a Lucien, who migrated from Haiti with his wife and daughters and establishes a home in Queens which becomes a focal point for other Haitian migrants seeking help. Which sounds fine and good except Lucien is disturbed and abusive and does some truly dark, depraved things. So much so that the house, which is a character in its own right, commits suicide by bursting into flames. The writing is compelling, and the themes are undoubtedly important - generational trauma, migration, gentrification, race, class, the legacy of colonialism, the marginalisation of Black women and more. However, the content is such that this is a very uncomfortable read, unrelentingly grim and disturbing at times, which means it is definitely not a book for every reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Addiction, and Animal cruelty

svoeti's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Rape, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Murder, Mental illness, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Animal death, Alcohol, Abandonment, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Stalking, Sexism, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Incest, Drug abuse, Death, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

alealvarez's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Torture, and Animal cruelty

emptychurches's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Incest, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Incest, Medical content, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

Minor: Cancer

miamon's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

Minor: Cancer

This book has trigger warnings all over the place, but most things are touched on/mentioned and not described in great detail. I've seen readers who were particularly upset about the animal cruelty in this book... perhaps it's because they didn't have any prior warning (but had read other content warnings)? Personally, I found the sexual violence (although not graphically described) more upsetting.

emilidoesrant's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

abbie_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

My Mother's House is an utterly wild ride, a literary thriller exploring the dark side of immigration, featuring one of the most despicable characters I've ever come across: Lucien. Lucien and his younger wife Marie-Ange have fled Haiti and settled in South Ozone Park, New York. Their house, La Kay, becomes a spot for newly arrived immigrants to enjoy some home-cooked Haitian food and receive legal advice. But La Kay is also the scene of unspeakable horrors, driven by Lucien's lascivious urges.

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The most common critique I've seen of this book is that not much explanation is given as to why Lucien is the way that he is, and I get that. Some people are just evil I guess, and honestly no amount of backstory could make the reader feel sympathetic to Lucien! Some of the story is told from his perspective, and those were admittedly my least favourite parts. It felt a little disjointed at times, as listening to it I couldn't work out if there was a pattern to the alternating chapters and also flashbacks to Lucien's life in Haiti.

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But one of the other narrators is La Kay itself - the house! I liked this technique, it's not every day you get to hear a story from the POV of a house! I found it interesting that La Kay was unaware of certain parts of itself - it sort of reminded me of the way people can repress certain memories. The third perspective is that of Sol, a young woman whose part in the story I shall not reveal. But it's through her that Momplaisir delivers more social commentary surrounding immigration in the US. She explores it elsewhere too, especially the tensions between Black immigrants and American-born Black folk.

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I liked the use of the three narrators on audio, they were very theatrical! I felt more like I was watching a movie play out. I've listened to a few books narrated by Dion Graham now and he's excellent as the voice of La Kay.

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I used to read a fair amount of grisly crime thrillers pre-bookstagram, and I'd say that this book is darker than many of those! So I wouldn't recommend it universally as it's a lot to handle. Check the content warnings first!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Kidnapping, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Cancer, Incest, and Pedophilia