Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

35 reviews

aardwyrm's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Trafficking, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death, and Confinement

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Death

machenn's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Death, Grief, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

jennifer_bush_73's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Trafficking, and Violence

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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

What if the Underground Railroad had some help from incredible magic powers? Hiram Walker, a man born into slavery, finds his life unexpectedly entangled with the Underground when strange happenings in his own life catch their attention. 

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting, and the book really took a hard look at the lives of enslaved black people in US history. I also liked that the story worked magic into the amazing work of the Underground Railroad without being reductive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, and Slavery

Minor: Racial slurs, Sexism, and Sexual assault

kmtd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery and Death

sansica's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

Stunning tale of hardship and survival. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Slavery, Racism, Police brutality, and Physical abuse

First person narrative of former slave’s life and his life while tasked and thereafter. The brutality of slavery is stark and necessary.

knkoch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.75

This was so good! I can’t really say enough to encompass the whole experience. It was complex and layered, beautiful and mythically powerful. It reminds me a bit of Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad, but it’s got a broader scope, and the main character comes to have a larger leadership role.

The greatest emotional truth I took from this was the emphasis on memory, and what characters chose to remember or forget. There is literal power in remembering for the black characters, a power the white characters (usually those upholding the slaveocracy) do not understand. That felt so true to me as a white person raised on primarily a white, sanitized version of history. As I’ve educated myself more on the brutal history of this country, one that does not ignore the experiences (and horror, trauma, and abuse) of BIPOC communities, I can see more and more the intentional blindness white-centered history rests on. You must forget about what’s really happened, who’s been disadvantaged, and what monstrous things you’ve done, as the white characters do here, to be satisfied with that version of history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Physical abuse and Death

deepfriedaries's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.0

This book tells an incredibly story of resiliency in the face of racism and the history of enslaved people on the deep south. It is a slow paced narrative, and I struggled to engage with the main plot given the main character spends a lot of time in introspective thought. I found the mysteries captivating, and what adventures there were, breathtaking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence

potatobat1820's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Sexual violence

nicki_d's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Trafficking

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence