Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Schwarzer Leopard, roter Wolf by Marlon James

82 reviews

elizaahhh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Sexual violence, Child death, Body horror, Animal death, Sexual assault, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

dananator13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Violence, Torture, Body horror, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Death, Slavery, Sexual assault, Rape, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Blood

bookforthought's review against another edition

I really wanted to like this, as I loved the idea of an African-inspired fantasy but the constant stream of explicit violence, child abuse and sexual content on basically every page was just too much for me.
I liked the African mythology and the writing style was original and intriguing (it resembles the oral storytelling tradition), but the content was making it impossible for me to enjoy this. I might give this another try in the future, but for now it’s a no. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Murder, Slavery, Death, and Child death

acaciathorns's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Slavery

Moderate: War

kingcrookback's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

I'm fairly sure that people called this "the African Game of Thrones" for marketing purposes because they both occupy the epic fantasy space, but I think the comparison is apt for other reasons. Similar to how A Song of Ice and Fire is something of an examination and deconstruction of feudal fantasy and grapples with how myth, history, and subjective experiences tangle and interweave, Black Leopard, Red Wolf also tackles the interplay among truth, stories, and subjectivity. Admittedly, I initially found it difficult to detect and hook onto this theme, partially due to the book's graphicness as well as the fact that that's...simply how it goes with a lot of fantasy worlds. It took me about 100 pages to find my footing, and reading James' interview with the Boston Review was also very helpful (https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/representation-doesnt-just-mean-heroes-we-need-the-villains-as-well).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Death, Torture, Body horror, Rape, Blood, Murder, Sexual violence, Gore, Cursing, and Child death

Moderate: Slavery, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Misogyny, Sexual content, War, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Mental illness, Grief, and Excrement

Minor: Drug use

eli3823's review against another edition

DNF. Stopped 1/3 in. Dense, highly stylized prose. Difficult to read. It's not always clear who is talking. Too much rape, graphic violence and reference to ass smells. Main character motivations aren't apparent. The part of the timeline, background that could shed light on who the protagonist is comes way too late. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, Torture, Slavery, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Murder, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Excrement

nate_b's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

A truly brilliant story! The world-building of an alternative African magical reality is absolutely incredible. I will need to give this another listen, though it is so intense and violent I don't know when I'll be up for it. It's almost like the most graphic type of scenes from Law & Order: SVU all put together with terrifying descriptions of witchcraft blended with mysterious powers, destiny, loss, and a pervasive, bitter sense of betrayal.

It was hard to follow at times but well worth the effort and time. It's a long book but so exquisitely told!

The author does not shy away from extremely graphic depictions of the acts of his characters, including sexual assault, murder, and war crimes against children. I actually had to set it aside after the first time I tried listening to it until a time when I was more able to handle the violent opening scene and get into the fascinating characters beyond. Maybe next year I'll be up to listen to the sequel! I hope they get the same narrator. He did a phenomenal job! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Blood, Bullying, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Rape, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Colonisation, Murder, Cursing, Gore, Trafficking, War, Sexual violence, Child death, Drug use, Sexual content, Classism, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcohol, and Animal death

e_asw_97's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

this book is a dazzling narrative full of rich imagination and prose. but at times, the pacing drags, and the action becomes dry and repetitive. these small complaints do not detract from the impact and the scope of the narrative, which is unlike anything I have ever read.

I took a full star off my rating, however, because I am disappointed to see how, even in this masterful upheaval of fantasy, women are still made to endlessly suffer, and to be the cause of the male characters' greatest suffering. few, if any, main characters are female, and those who are die quickly, or live only to serve the ends and purpose of the male characters. I want so badly for literature to move past this convention, this unending commitment to a misogynistic ideal, and to engage with it beyond a throwaway line from a supporting character asking the main character why he hates women so much. I could go on about the gratuitous and unsympathetic use of violence and rape in this book, and how the author wholeheartedly fails to resolve his own main character's virulent hatred of women, but to do so would echo decades of criticism of genre and literary fiction. I am simply disappointed that this book, which was lauded for flouting convention and being a "revolutionary" work, simply conformed to the worst parts of its genre. I had hoped for otherwise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Blood, Sexual violence, Sexism, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, Body horror, Violence, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Sexual content, and Gore

Moderate: Grief, War, Xenophobia, and Physical abuse

marmybarmy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Pedophilia, Death, Abandonment, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Slavery, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Torture, Vomit, and Animal death

Moderate: Incest

scribblesandsuch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

This is very very good but also very intense. If you've only read Western stories it is a Big change of pace, the story telling of this is inherently and unapologetically Afro-Carribean. It's very gritty and gorey and sensory. Bear with it, it's worth reading

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Ableism, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Torture, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Incest, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Homophobia, Addiction, and Suicide