Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Viha jonka kylvät by Angie Thomas

132 reviews

lawbooks600's review against another edition

emotional 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

Representation: Black and Asian characters
Score: Nine points out of ten.

The Hate U Give succeeded where other novels failed. I've read books like this before, but none were as outstanding as this one. I wanted to read this story for a while after seeing it in my recommendations, so I picked it up from a library I went to. When I finally read and finished the narrative, it was spectacular. It's the first five-star read of the year. 

It starts with the first person I see, Starr Carter, living as if she's split in two. One half lives in an impoverished neighbourhood while the other lives in a PWI. Everything looks typical until a person shoots and kills her best friend, Khalil, who is unarmed. The book is slow but I can understand since it's over 400 pages, yet it still feels like every page is necessary. 

I liked that the author allowed me to connect to Starr more as she developed, and I appreciated all the other characters in the fictional composition. They're all realistic and complex. The author explores the themes of racism and injustice well as I could see how people can make subtle racist comments and how they can be in solidarity with each other. The climax is bittersweet as I see crowds protesting over Khalil's death, all while the police do nothing about the culprit. When I closed the final page, it never felt like I left The Hate U Give at all, since that world is, unfortunately, so similar to the one I live in, especially when there are people against injustice in real life. The sneak peek of On the Come Up immediately made me want to read it and other creations from Angie Thomas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Gun violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury

Full trigger warnings: Death of a brother and a child in the past mentioned, murder, blood, grief and loss depiction, racism, racist slurs, gun and gang violence, physical assault and injury, hospitalisation of a person, fire, explosions, imprisonment, drug and alcohol abuse

snipinfool's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

Starr Carter witnessed the fatal shooting of a childhood friend, Khalil, when they were stopped by the police. Khalil was unarmed and neither he nor Starr had any idea why the car he was driving was pulled over. It was not right that Khalil was dead. The police, after conducting their investigation, found that the officer was doing his job and would not be arrested or sanctioned. It contradicted what Starr saw that night and she wanted to tell in detail what she witnessed. She hoped to stay anonymous, but the story soon made local and national news. People started to protest. Starr and her family received some pressure from the police and some members of a local gang to stay silent. Starr was caught between helping her friend receive justice for his murder and keeping herself and her family safe. It was going to be very difficult for her to do either and almost impossible for her to accomplish both.

Sometimes, when books affect me deeply, I have the most trouble putting my thoughts into words. The Hate U Give was one such book. This was a powerful story. This could have been a story seen in the news many times in real life. Angie Thomas did an excellent job of writing this book. Her words brought the story to life. The scene where Starr and her group were trying to get through the blocked neighborhood roads to her house effectively described the chaos, panic, desperation, and fear they were feeling. My heart was racing as I read of their struggles. Starr was a great main character. She was well written, and her actions reflected what one would expect of a sixteen-year-old. Starr had a great strength of character deciding to push for a detailed statement on the events of the night Khalil was murdered. Her parents, Lisa and Maverick, were very supportive and were two of my favorite characters after Starr. This story reflects the real life for a lot of people. That needs to change.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Grief

Moderate: Drug abuse and Domestic abuse

dragon_s_hoard's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Hate crime, Blood, Murder, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Grief, Violence, Cursing, Child death, Toxic friendship, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Addiction, Classism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

kriskelly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

bookdragonkatie's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Police brutality, and Grief

Moderate: Physical abuse, Bullying, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Domestic abuse

pacifickat's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? No

4.75

The audio version of this book narrated by Bahni Turpin is masterful. I only wish I had read it sooner.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Racism, Toxic relationship, Classism, Child abuse, Blood, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Minor: Confinement and Alcoholism

PTSD, guilt, shame, fear, gang violence, threats of violence

trashgobby's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Grief, Murder, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Police brutality

Moderate: Body shaming, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Sexism, Misogyny, Classism, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Violence, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Emotional abuse

a_novi's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

4.0

This book is emotional and extremely relevant. As someone who has PTSD and personal trauma regarding violent trauma and police I found this book extremely relatable in many ways. The way the author describes grief and trauma and how flashbacks of traumatic events can sneak into your thoughts during normal life, the way that

the funeral for Khalil and the visions of him bleeding in the street, visions of Natasha’s body dropping after being shot, the nightmares, all of it

is all very accurate and can definitely be very triggering. I recommend this book for people who have trauma with police but please just be aware that it can be very triggering, I also recommend this book for anyone that has trouble understanding why people don’t trust the police, fear them, or even hate them, because this book could be very eye opening for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Vomit, Child death, Cursing, Violence, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Death, Gun violence, Addiction, Classism, Blood, and Hate crime

Moderate: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mysafe_place's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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

I can definitely say that this book has had an enormous impact on me. It talks about police violence against black people, which I was always aware of and which I always found to be malicious, cruel and simply not acceptable (like any other human being). But I have realised,  thanks to this book, that being aware of it and actually knowing what it is and what it causes is something fundamentally different. 
Losing loved ones, them being killed even though they did nothing wrong, rasicm in all kinds of forms, the stories of black people who have to endure all of that and more, it is simply astonishing how Angie Thomas brought all of that together in one book. It is so informativ yet emotional at the same time and it expands your horizon.
Besides that, Angie Thomas provides us with various different perspectives on this important topic whilst developing these characters in such a good way (especially the main protagonist,  Starr).  I also loved the way that all names had some special meaning behind it. 
All in all a great book about a topic which we have to talk about. I definitely recommend it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Grief, Xenophobia, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Drug use, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Blood and Bullying

heathermcc54321's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

I decided to read this one when the local school board took it out of the curriculum. Really powerful stuff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Physical abuse, Classism, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Death, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Vomit, and Child death