Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

23 reviews

sproutedpages's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Grief, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

Minor: Drug use, Blood, and Drug abuse

karcitis's review against another edition

mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Death, Death of parent, Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use, War, Vomit, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Fire/Fire injury

jessthanthree's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Violence, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Abandonment, Racism, Toxic relationship, Rape, Racial slurs, and Grief

Minor: Cannibalism, Drug use, and Colonisation

byejohn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Great story(ies), i really loved the interpretation/ application of vampire lore and mechanics here. A healthy mix of no-holds-barred action with moments of reflection. Also enjoyed the emphasis on family- and home-making. These vampires aren’t loners but recognize the importance of community!! Which rings very true imo for immortal yet not invulnerable beings.

A couple of points knocked off because I do have to say the writing style was very hit or miss for me- there were moments that felt very clunky or just weirdly written that didn’t quite deliver on the potential of the plot and characters. Additionally the ending felt really rushed to me. But that was mostly balanced out by the passages of brilliance!

Side note it was fun and depressing to read the author’s interpretations of life in 2020 and 2050!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Racism, Sexual assault, Blood, and Slavery

morimyths's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Alcohol, Blood, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Violence

Minor: Slavery, War, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Self harm, Genocide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Suicide, Abandonment, and Death of parent

saphfics's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Violence, Blood, and Sexual content

Minor: Slavery and Misogyny

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Blood, Violence, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Death of parent, and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia

librarianmage's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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

I ache for more

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Slavery and War

Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia

fareehareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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

This Afro-futurist vampire novel is way more than it appears and is easily my favorite read of 2022. Not only is it the best vampire depiction I have ever read, it also calls for you to look within and ask what does a community look like in the face of human caused devastation? Also, what would you do if given the chance at eternity? The story begins with a girl that grew up on a plantation and runs away, finding herself at a woman-run brothel and in the company of a pair of vampires that become her maternal figures. Each chapter jumps forward in time across the 200 years in her life as we watch Gilda adjust and adapt with each time period. A deep connection to the land is interwoven in the foundation of this story through Gilda's intimate relationship with the character Bird of the Lakota people, and through the physical carrying of soil of her homeland everywhere she goes. She meets various black queer women that shape her life along the way and we get the most tender found family of vampires I've seen in a long time. One of my favorite aspects of the vampire elements in this story is the ingestion of blood. Instead of it being a violent act that leaves the victim drained and lifeless, this story calls the exchange a 'sharing of life' where the vampire takes the human's blood and, in exchange, the human gets to dream out the deepest desires and is left dazed but alive. It's a fantastic book to pick up now and the 2020 predictions from when it was written (1991) are startlingly close to what we've experienced. I wonder how many of the 2050 predictions will come to pass. This story has literally everything you could want and to me, is an instant classic. PLEASE do yourself a favor and read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror and Abandonment

Minor: Suicide attempt and Death

The 25th anniversary collection contains an updated note about the predictions of The Gilda Stories, and quotes from Audre Lorde texts which were influential in Jewelle's work. I highly recommend looking.

popcornreading's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, and Blood