Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe

12 reviews

vaanessssaa's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.75

I cried. This is a devastatingly realistic fictional take on growing up in The Projects and it hits even harder hearing it from the perspective of a girl right on the cusp of change.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Gun violence, Rape, Pedophilia, and Drug use

maregred's review

challenging inspiring reflective sad slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Rape, Classism, Drug abuse, Death, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Addiction, Gun violence, Racism, and Adult/minor relationship

girrllie's review

It was too sad and violent. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Drug use, Gun violence, and Rape

hilarymercer's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, and Domestic abuse

kirbyaliceox's review

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Addiction

Moderate: Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, and Murder

mjwhitlock18's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

Coming-of-age story of an adolescent girl growing up in a housing project dealing with gang violence and loss of community due to gentrification, as well as navigating the changing landscape of her friendships. The voice and character of FeFe feels authentic, naive in a realistic way, and grows and changes as she loses innocence in a system that refuses to protect her and deals with turmoil, systemic injustice, and personal hurdles. The second part has a shift in tone, with her adult self recounting later events and reflecting on/ mourning the childhood she had. This narrative clearly shows the cycle of generational poverty, systemic racism, and police brutality, but still highlighting how she flourished with support and love. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death

combepherre's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Child death, Alcohol, Blood, Sexual assault, Death, Violence, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Police brutality, Rape, Trafficking, Child abuse, Addiction, Bullying, and Abandonment

ukponge's review

challenging reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Bullying, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Violence, Drug use, and Police brutality

Moderate: Abandonment

emily_koopmann's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Child death, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Police brutality, Racism, Child abuse, Rape, and Violence

livlosiewicz's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

 

Pros: 

· There was something unique about this book. It read a bit like a memoir, with the narrator having the perspective of older FeFe. I thought this was refreshing and gave the book an “instant classic” feel 

·I liked how, generally through the lens of FeFe, we view characters as multidimensional. We see different sides of characters like Stacia and Meechie 

·I liked the themes of this book and the way it explores community, friendship, trauma, grief, and the treatment of black boys and girls all in a couple hundred pages! Well done 

Cons: 

·Downside of the memoir feel: not quite as edge-of-your-seat-engaging as your average novel. I still really liked it, but I felt there was a certain muted, slower quality to it that lacked the oomph I want from my most favorite books 

·I wish we saw a bit more about why some characters joined gangs in the first place, other than the fact that they were born into hard circumstances. It was so easy to just wish they had made different choices/almost villainize them and a window into some of their minds would have been helpful. Similarly, I think it would have been interesting to have more insight in FeFe’s mind as she processes troubling things- we tended to skip through things and get the tldr from narrator FeFe 

 

Recommendation: What a debut!!! I recommend to those who like books that are more about characters and situations, for those looking for good POC authors/characters, and for those looking for a good discussion book. (I think this would be a great book for a high school English class too! In the best way!) I really liked this one and the characters will stay with me for a while. Avoid if you want suspenseful, driving plots or if you hate memoirs (not actually a memoir). 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Rape