Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

23 reviews

ohdakotaa's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

cady_sass's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

A bleak and brutal look at the reality of poverty in America through the eyes of a number of Milwaukee residents constantly teetering the edge of homelessness. It’s easy to get lost in these peoples stories and forget this is nonfiction, for many who have never seen or experienced or even imagined poverty this reads like fiction. The endless cycle created by the American government is a tough pill to swallow. Imagining a woman choosing to tolerate physical abuse rather than call the police and risk being evicted for being a problem tenant? That’s real and that’s horrific. And that’s just one of many, many stories told here. This is another book that I wish everyone could be compelled to read, there is a deeper understanding here and the empathy that comes with that understanding is critical to making progressive change. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

katerockreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

maevebeck's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

3.0

excellent source for understanding poverty in a more intimate and human way. overall the story desmond tells is confusing and kind of all over the place. few stories actually have a beginning middle and end ?? i understand that they’re real stories tho and that’s not always possible. very good book though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism

albernikolauras's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

A heart-wrenching nonfiction book following families in Milwaukee that were evicted during the 2008 and 2009 recession. Desmond gives each individual humanity within his writing as he describes them without judgment or censor, from the landlords to the eviction company to the individuals left homeless afterward.

There wasn't a moment that you didn't feel the anger and frustration that we choose to treat people this way - as if their life doesn't matter. Desmond is clear about the ripple effect instable housing has on people - emotionally and physically - and the community they live in. How it effects the children stuck in this cycle, hopping from school to school while balancing taking care of their siblings.

Desmond wraps up the book describing his place within these situations, how he lived near them, when he intervened to help the families he followed, and what we can do to help prevent the worst of this. It is frightening that this has likely only gotten worse with the increasing housing prices and cost of living with no real increase in government support.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Mental illness, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and War

larbster90's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

One of the best non-fiction books I've read. Tells the story of eviction not just with numbers, but with human stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

bri4103's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Murder

fogthroughthevalley's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Contains both personal stories of eviction and academic analysis of the issue. The anecdotes draw you in and the issue solidifies in a way that might not already be apparent for people who have not experienced poverty and eviction firsthand. I would deem this an essential read for anyone interested in better understanding the inhumane systems currently in place in the United States.

Two quotes/sections of the book that immediately stood out to me:
"When people began to view their neighborhood as brimming with deprivation and vice, full of all sorts of shipwrecked humanity, they lost confidence in its political capacity. 
Milwaukee renters who perceived higher levels of neighborhood trauma, believing that their neighbors had experienced incarceration, abuse, addiction, and other harrowing events, were far less likely to believe that people in their community could come together to improve their lives. 
This lack of faith had less to do with their neighborhood's actual poverty and crime rates than with the level of concentrated suffering they perceived around them. 
A community that saw so clearly its own pain, had a difficult time also sensing its potential."

"But equal treatment in an unequal society could still foster inequality."
 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

edie_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Mental illness, Excrement, and Pregnancy

samvanz12's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship