Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

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

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

sarahbethhh's review

dark emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

Onyebuchi’s turns of phrase make this already compelling story memorable. His command of language, his approach to the devastating — truly breathtaking. An absolutely necessary read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Violence, Police brutality, Racism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Child death, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Hate crime, and Death of parent

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

ceilidhwilliams's review

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Hate crime, Death of parent, Confinement, Racial slurs, and Racism

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

bandysbooks's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

I heard about Riot Baby during a readathon that I was participating in. Previously, I was unfamiliar with this author and this work. I’m glad that’s changed though because I though this was such an interesting book.

Riot Baby follows two siblings, one of which was born during the Rodney King Riots. They are surrounded by a system that victimizes, criminalizes, and then incarcerates their peers. When they reach a breaking point, we start to see hints of powers they’ve both been containing. 

This is in some ways a dystopia, but in some ways it isn’t. We have a system that is set up to function against a certain group of people. The reason that I won’t call it an outright dystopia is because those injustices are just slight escalations of the things that already happen on a day to day basis in the states.

What’s most impressive about this book is how it can delve into such deep themes in such a short page count. It all made sense as written, but also left me wanting more of the story. All in all, a solid read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Racism, Violence, Blood, Classism, Police brutality, and Torture

honeyvoiced's review

challenging mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Police brutality and Confinement

Minor: Death of parent