Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha

12 reviews

wrenl's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

Two words to describe this book: solemn and slow.

Its solemnness is heavy, and it doesn’t go away after it enters in the beginning of the book. This tone works well for this type of book, but combined with the slowness, it’s a very tiring reading experience.

Its slowness makes the plot crawl by, making it a bit tedious to read. Although it has some great ideas, its execution feels like a slog because of its slow pace.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Racism

Moderate: Police brutality and Racial slurs

cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Murder

Moderate: Racial slurs and Police brutality

v_nerdbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Murder, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia and Cursing

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

Really interesting choice of narratives, made you feel torn between but not at all torn

‘How devastating to return from the verge of death and be disappointed.’

‘But he couldn't stomach it anymore. Not since he was a child, getting his head rubbed by every kindhearted motherfucker who warmed his soul from a safe distance at the bonfire of Shawn's

tragedy. He was forever a black child who'd been publicly wronged, and so he was an altar for the well-meaning pilgrims, who wanted his grace in exchange for their patronage. At least Ava got to die before they made a production out of the great tragedy of her life.’

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Gun violence, Death, Racism, Grief, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Violence

hxcpanda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

A hard read but deeply empathetic. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Police brutality

gaycornbread420's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.5

Really disappointed by the ending, but before that I thought it was great

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Death of parent

cernst09's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Murder, and Gun violence

hazelgirl21's review

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Police brutality, Car accident, and Death of parent

jackelz's review against another edition

informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This book is based on the death of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins at the hands of a Korean-American store owner, Soon Ja Du, in 1991. 

Du accused Latasha of shoplifting a bottle of orange juice, and their verbal altercation escalated into a physical one. Then the woman grabbed a gun and fired, killing the girl. When police arrived on the scene, they discovered that Latasha had the money for the juice in her hand — $2. Du was convicted of voluntary manslaughter but served no jail time.

I’ve read about the protests in LA following the beating of Rodney King, and I’ve read books that mention the tension between Koreans and African-Americans, but I never knew why, and I’m thankful this book opened my eyes to that. 
➞ During the riots of 1992, 2,280 Korean American-owned stores had been looted, burned or damaged, amounting to about $400 million in losses. 

Your House Will Pay is set in the summer of 2019, after yet another police shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

I love how the story was formatted, and that the book touches on both sides of the story. As the background story slowly unfolds, we are constantly learning more about the characters and how these events have shaped their lives. The narrative will have you questioning your familial relationships, your biases, and the Justice system. 

This story will stick with me for a long time. Thank you Kristin Lee for recommending this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Grief, Death, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

kutub_qahwa's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-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

5.0

Wow, what a book! Such an emotional journey, parts of it were so hard to read, and parts that I sped through. The author does an amazing job capturing such different lives and perspectives. There are so many feelings this book bring out. 10/10 recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Cursing, Car accident, Xenophobia, Violence, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Medical content, Gun violence, Grief, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty