Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

21 reviews

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racial slurs, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Addiction, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Blood, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Racism, Sexism, Drug abuse, and Hate crime

Moderate: Homophobia and Pregnancy

sib_reads's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Homophobia, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Sexism

Minor: Alcohol, Car accident, Cursing, Gun violence, and Religious bigotry

prettycloud's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

This book is so compelling. So concise and yet with such gorgeous visuals and descriptions of music, so focused and yet so devoted to the nuances of the story and the supporting cast. It reads like a book written by a journalist, asking important questions and pushing the reader to think critically, but never dragging the way more self-indulgent literary books do. It focuses on racism, sexism, misogynoir, and the far-reaching effects of structural inequality and subcultural resistance, and yet it comes off emotionally real rather than preachy. If you liked "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo," you're likely to get a lot out of this one too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Police brutality, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Blood, Cursing, and Addiction

Minor: Abortion, Car accident, Medical content, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

This book is ultimately more adventurous than dark in tone, so though it shows racist violence and bigoted attitudes, it lingers more on subcultural connection, healing, and inspiration. The book centers around the death of the narrator's Black father during the riot that launched the eponymous band to stardom, and the narrator's ongoing quest to learn more about that night and its key players. One of the key players is at the time of narration dying of cancer. There is a twist related to that night, but no surprise violence or illness or anything.

thealyssa_ann's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-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

Having the story come together through interviews that slowly revealed who the narrator was really fun. And I appreciated how complex the characters were even if something that was supposed to happen in the 70’s was eerily similar to what still regularly happens to Black men. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Drug use, and Police brutality

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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: Alcoholism, Self harm, Death of parent, Drug use, Hate crime, Infidelity, Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Addiction

Moderate: Homophobia

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

5.0

 - THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL AND NEV is one of those books that feels so real you can't believe it's fiction. I kept wanting to listen to these songs and look up the photos and album covers described.
- I listened to the audiobook, which is read by a full cast: a uniquely all-encompassing experience for a book written in an oral history format.
- It's funny and glam, and also serious and sad. So much is covered in this book that's ostensibly about rock and roll excess. You'll be thinking about Opal and her life for years to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Murder, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, Blood, Grief, Violence, Cursing, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Racism

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective 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 book pulls you IN. As a documentary lover this was a new kind of reading experience for me, but I hope to find more books in this style—and hopefully on a similar level of craft. Walton’s use of history, both real and fictionalized, is masterful. This really does feel like a tell all that would blow up and be the talk of twitter for weeks on end. If you like documentaries, Black activism, rock, music, or stories about making sense of your past, Read This Book!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Alcohol, Grief, Sexism, Cursing, Hate crime, Racism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Police brutality

katsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

"I believe in myself above all.”

“I got a better question for you. Why are you so deeply invested in proving I'm scared? Does a Black person showing they're scared make you feel safer? I suggest you sit back and interrogate that.”

The format of this book was super cool and intriguing. I really loved how it made me feel like I was really hearing the characters and getting to know them yet somehow also kept them at arm's length. It was hard to truly like any of the characters. I felt like it helped it feel like they were real people. Every person had their own imperfections and flaws that made them feel more realistic. I felt like the social commentary was really impactful, as well. It was really interesting to read a story about the artistic and creative labor of black women and how it's been exploited throughout history. I struggled with the ending a little bit. I wanted a bigger conclusion and resolution. I wanted everything for Opal. But on the other hand, would that have made it less realistic? This isn't one of those books that necessarily has a nice happy bow tying up all the loose ends. It's fiction but I've already stated that I liked how realistic it was. Perhaps, the real world is what actually disappoints me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Cultural appropriation, Infidelity, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gaslighting, Racism, Addiction, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Cursing, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

effy's review against another edition

4.5

Review from first re-read: I am not sure if this book has been compared to Daisy Jones or if it is just my perception that it has but I remember the first time that I read this book thinking that it was superior to Daisy Jones but it had been several years. Basically I decided to re-read this book straight after my Daisy Jones re-read so I could test my perceptions.

There are a couple of similarities between this book and Daisy Jones however beyond their somewhat surface-level similarities, this book is a much more complicated and nuanced story where the core focus is the traumatic murder of a Black man. There are themes of white performative activism as well.

The first time that I read this book, the mid-story twist hit as hard as the conclusion but this time around the ending didn't pack the same punch, I think because I was expecting more. Regardless, I really enjoyed this story and thought it was an incredibly powerful one.

Rating from first read: 5⭐

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Racial slurs, Murder, and Hate crime

dlrosebyh's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-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: Racism, Racial slurs, Grief, Death, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Addiction

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Rape, Murder, and Domestic abuse