Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Mañana, y mañana, y mañana by Gabrielle Zevin

423 reviews

rthpr's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

I really loved this book. I loved Sam the whole way through, and as a female dev I really empathised with Sadie at the start of the novel (the amount of times I’ve been told that it will be easier for me to get a job because I’m female and not because of my achievements are innumerable) but Sadie really started to frustrate me towards the end of the novel.

She blames Sam for everything. Everything that goes wrong

the credit thing I get, it sucks when you don’t get credit. The Dov thing I could kind of see, but not really. He saw you depressed due to a breakup but then you never discussed it. You are fine with being friends with Dov but hold a grudge against Sam? I know abusive relationships can be complicated but it pissed me off. Even when Marx said “sorry lol it was probably me who inserted the disk not Sam, he probably didn’t see the message” she was so intent on blaming Sam that she can’t see past it. And I can understand trying to find someone to blame for Marx’s death but Sam was only the figurehead for the game, it was SADIE’S IDEA to have all kinds of marriage in the game!!! That he got racist and homophobic abuse for YEARS about. That she forgets about. It’s no one’s fault but the killer’s but she never tries to apologise for treating him like she did, even years later

I also really disliked the pioneers chapter. It really threw off the pace and I guess I didn’t really “get” it.

The first half or so of the book is perfect, the second half got very frustrating. It felt like

Marx and Sadie just got together, but I didn’t really see much chemistry between them

. And once

Marx dies

the book can’t quite keep the good parts going.

This will definitely be a book I think about for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Racism

Minor: Pregnancy

spicyviolets's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad 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

A beautifully written book with characters that feel entirely fleshed out and grounded. It manages to be a love letter to the art of video games, and the healing powers of play, while not shying away from the systemic flaws in both the gaming industry and the community. 
Sam and Sadie are incredibly well-written. Both their own stories, and their relationship to each other are told woven and layered together in an incredibly unique way that was so entertaining to read. They’re deeply flawed, complex, often unlikeable (but I was always able to empathize with them both) and beautifully human characters. Gabrielle Zevin nailed this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Mental illness, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Car accident

intrepid_bibliophile's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, and Classism

brlylcl's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

hannah_the_bookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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: Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Stalking, and Pregnancy

shaleen64's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

Whilst nearly all the gaming references were lost on me, the love between the characters wasn’t. 

This book covers important issues in a subtle but thought provoking way. It explores love within families, within romantic relationships but most beautifully within platonic relationships. 

It’s brilliantly written with so many connected ideas/plot lines and themes if you pay enough attention. It will make you laugh and cry in equal measure and is a must read, gamer or not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Suicide, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Sexual content, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Cancer, Car accident, and Pregnancy

starduststyx's review against another edition

People always wanna recommend this book to ppl who know nothing about gamedev and think oh wow what a great book about games this is but its just wrong. 

Besides the author not crediting the work of Brenda Romero who inspired the game "Solution" ( Zevin credits her husband for his games btw so she SHOULD'VE credit Brenda for her game "Train" inspiring "Solution) and being a zionist ( literally attended a "right for israel to exist" convention ) this book is just not good.

I stopped about 30% of the way there. I can't say the exact page because it was digital and I need the font to be bigger meaning the book is longer than it should, but as a gamedev it also just hurt to read. It's written in a way that's easy to devour but hard to process because some of the serious topics even in this first half I read was not handled properly. You're presented with this story that's supposed to be about this amazing friendship but it's just about it's complicated downfall from what I can gather so far. The book does have it's good moments when writing about Sam and Sadie, but the way the two of them talk about their creations make it feel a bit empty. You can evision the story and the characters and the visuals but the way you play the way these characters move are just things we barely gather. I think Solution was the only game I could clearly visualize besides EmilyBlaster. 

Yknow, if the author wasn't a zionist and apologized for not crediting Brenda Romero I would actually finish the book because like. How do you write a book about woman not being credited just to do that as the author. Agh I have so many more words to say but I feel it's just a waste. If you like the book. I get it. It's like enjoying a mcdonalds burger. But fuck this. I can spend my time doing better things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

lenak's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

ksfinnerty's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Drug use, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Abortion

Minor: Cancer, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, and Antisemitism

crunchycrystals's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

can't rate it i feel like i need to go full english class analysis mode to fully understand this book and i simply do not have the time rn !!!!!!!! the writing was incredible though id love to read another book from this author. i think i wanted something different out of this book that it simply was not trying to be and that's a me issue but i did literally just finish it so maybe i'll have more thoughts in the future. i did really appreciate the love this book has for storytelling and stories and art and creation 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Vomit, Abortion, and Pregnancy