Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

31 reviews

sophisticotton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

I really can’t rate this book yet. What I can say is that it makes me think, I love the changing perspectives, and I think it belongs in a modern afro futurism course. Would love to see it taught in comparison with Chain Gang All Stars or Parable of the Sower. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Death of parent, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racism, Gun violence, Miscarriage, and Suicide attempt

jenna_justi2004's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Colonisation, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Slavery, Toxic relationship, War, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Cursing, Torture, Confinement, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt

salemander's review

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Slavery, Hate crime, Racism, Child death, and Gun violence

hanz's review

dark emotional slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Medical content, Confinement, Racism, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Grief

lexihworth's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense fast-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: Gun violence, Drug use, Death of parent, Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Alcohol, Slavery, Death, and Cancer

Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Miscarriage

booksjessreads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I consumed this story as an audio and I think a lot of my thoughts about this book are down to the format I read this in. I really liked the themes explored and I could really feel the anger and frustration from the author come through in the text. I also really was drawn to the plot at the beginning, wondering how events would transpire. I felt as though the first and third person narratives for Kev and Ella, respectively, were suited to the individual characters really well. Third person makes sense for Ella, as she is all-seeing and all-knowing, which the third-person account of her experiences only accentuates. 

However, the transitions between experiences, people's perspectives, historical events, were all amalgamated into one, and through the audio, this made it so hard to transition between characters and stories. This felt disjointed and made me lose focus a lot. I appreciate the writing style and how it fits with the characters, but it made it really difficult for me to transition to different perspectives throughout the story. 

I also felt as though the background to their dystopia could have been explored more, and so could Ella's powers, also known as her 'Thing'. I loved the magical realism dystopia vibes, but I just wanted more explanation of the world and Ella's powers and circumstances. There is a lot of emotion packed into the small book, but I felt this would have worked better if it had been longer also.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Suicide attempt, Violence, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Murder, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Blood, Cancer, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Cursing, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, and Misogyny

Minor: Drug use and Sexual violence

city_girl_writer'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

5.0

My brain is trying to process everything that I just read. At first, I thought it was just a SFF book, but as I continue to listen, I realized this book is more like a dystopian novel. I have not read dystopian novels since I was in middle school (mid-2010s), so I was shocked. The social commentary is top notch!! Despite it being a novella, it fits everything together and I didn't miss anything. The siblings, Kev and Ella, are fully-realized characters who are angry in their own way. I wish I could recommend this to everyone, but I cannot. The subject matter is dark, and there are many content warnings as well. Please tread with caution.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Medical content

Moderate: Miscarriage, Slavery, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cancer

decie's review

challenging emotional medium-paced

4.5

pick this up when you want raw, heavy, rage-filled poetry. if you're primed for a fantasy plot you'll be disappointed. that's not what the author is doing here. it's better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, Grief, Classism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Racism, Police brutality, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Drug use and Confinement

Minor: Animal death

doomluz's review

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

This novella is very emotional. The main focus on Elle and Kev and the brutalities and injustice they experience and they witness. It shows a lot of the struggles of incarcerated people and POC, especially Black people.
Though I kind of would have liked to see the sci-fi/fantasy elements in this story explored a bit more, I also liked that it stayed focused on the raw anger and heartbreak. A hard sci-fi or fantasy approach might've distracted from the real life issues this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, and Violence

Moderate: Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

Minor: Miscarriage and Cancer

medical racism