Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

76 reviews

sas_lk's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I don't even know where to start. The way Achebe wrote this novel was so clever, I get why it has become a classic.
First, the character of Okonkwo is so well written - you can truly feel his desperate need to prove himself, and you can truly feel the trauma that causes him to act and think the way he does.
The way Achebe slowly built up the dread, until it is all you feel, was so well done. And then, knowing Africa's history, you feel the pain of what happens next so powerfully. 

I could write a booklong review about it, but I don't think I could do it justice. Incredible novel.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Miscarriage, Grief, Racism, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Child death, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual content and Slavery

kenzieb8's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

yolie's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

A commanding book, and completely understandable why it is seen as a pioneer of the African literary scene.

Things Fall Apart - whether through inaction or due to the actions of others. This book albeit slow paced, introduces you to a Nigerian community not yet influenced by Christianity and this it follows strict traditional African spirituality and practises. It chronicles a society so rich in culture and identity and its eventual collapse due to the arrival of evangelists.

The book takes a really long time to hit its stride, and despite it being a short novel, it often feels longer than it was.

While newer fiction and writers can be praised for their (better) command of language and storytelling, Chinua Achebe achieved a feat no other African writer had done at the time and this book - in the context that it came out in - is remarkable. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Sexism, Child death, Slavery, Colonisation, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Violence

Although slow paced, as the book goes on you begin to see why ‘Things Fall Apart’.

kaddyren's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

1.5

not for me… very slow and boring in my opinion. ending hit very hard but the middle was very unmemorable. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Violence

Minor: Colonisation

monjure's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Colonisation, Violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Suicide

bealmg's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.5

This novel tells the story of Okonkwo, a respected warrior in his village ofr his strength and tenacity. The best parts of the novel were the last two (the last third of the book), where we see colonialism starting to seep into the nearby villages and, eventually, in Okonkwo's own village. It was such a harrowing and subtle portrayal, because the reader knows, at some level, what will happen to the village and its people. Although the ending surprised me, I thought it made sense in the story. I just wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style (although I liked how Achebe used local proverbs to tell the story) and the few instances of violence against women, which made me feel quite detached from the story and its characters for the majority of the book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Violence, Child death, Death, and Sexism

Minor: Slavery

suicide

xh_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

Tragic. Infuriating. Necessary.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Violence and Suicide

allieos's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Genocide, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, War, Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Domestic abuse

angela_iseli's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, Murder, Xenophobia, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Domestic abuse

ginny16205's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Cola nuts,Read in AP Lit, FIRE RATS

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence

Beheading