Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Leopardo Negro, Lobo Vermelho by Marlon James

80 reviews

secondhandreads's review against another edition

The writing style was just clunky to get through for me, and I wasn't particularly compelled by the mystery aspect or most of the characters. Just didn't hold my attention. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Excrement

Minor: Slavery

rosenic's review against another edition

Trigger warnings galore 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

dia_ls's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

athenas99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

3.5

This was an interesting read. At first, I didn’t like it very much and the first 50 pages or so was a slog, but it gets much better when Tracker becomes an adult. He was a really dynamic and fascinating character. I really liked how James handled his sexuality (it’s acknowledged as different, but also a non-issue) and I think Tracker is equal parts principled and vicious. I liked that the narrative called out his misogyny and played him against Sogolon, the anti-witch, who also leapt off the page. I don’t like that his tension with his mother was resolved off-page. Besides the characters, I really liked the world-building and incorporation of African mythology and speech patterns. The dialogue was fantastic and believable. All that said, I think the story was often confusing and convoluted. There needed to be some expedition to set up the backstory of the North v. South, and also the geography of the wider world. For example, I still have no idea what / where Fassisi is. I also felt like the graphic scenes (of sexual and/or violent nature) could be overkill, even though they were vivid. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and Murder

bitter_critter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bayrayj's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

Crazy bonkers bananas thrill ride from start to finish. I can barely remember where this book started but I was invested in all 620 pages of this adventure. It was very strange at points in the best way. The characters felt endearing. The monster felt genuinely creepy and the stakes kept getting higher. The voice of the story didn’t always feel consistent, fluctuating between what felt like a historical voice to a more modern or silly tone. But none of it got in the way of an epic adventure and beautiful landscape. Highly recommend for those trying to start reading longer fantasy stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Slavery, and Blood

eliasaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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 was incredible. I've been telling people it's "LOTR if, instead of taking place in vaguely medieval Europe, it was instead set in vaguely medieval Africa," but that really doesn't do it justice.

The other reviews are right that it deserves every trigger warning under the sun, but this is the best high fantasy I've read in a long time. The characters are all so interesting and well fleshed out, the writing (though not always easy) is engaging because it's perfectly in the protagonist's voice, the plot is twisty and turny... It's basically perfect.

All the seemingly disparate story elements end up being relevant. If you get through the first hundred or so pages, you won't be able to put down the rest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Homophobia and Vomit

Minor: Racism, Islamophobia, and Cannibalism

sujong127's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

hello_kara's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

If you have any triggers, just imagine this book as one big red flag. Horribly brutal and violent. Cruel and gruesome. Intensely graphic and crass. Disorienting and unnerving. 

This is not a comfortable or easy read. But content riddled with trauma should not be comfortable. Gratuitous mention of shit, piss, blood, rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, child abandonment and sacrifice, kidnapping, corruption, slavery, torture, dismemberment, and murder. Is the overall story still intriguing though? Yes. Not a book I could ever rate on a simple scale though.

“There was always someone or some two or some three who will grab me like a stick and break me, grab me like wet cloth, and wring everything out of me. And that was just the way of the world. That was the way of everybody’s world.”

Took me forever to get through this one, and I didn’t feel invested until about a third of the way through. That’s also about how long it takes to get to the advertised plot of the book. I was drawn in by the premise of an epic quest of a group of people each with different supernatural gifts, knowledge, or skill, with the goal of finding a missing child of prophecy. The story is told from the point of view of Tracker, The Red Wolf, and is being told to the Inquisitor questioning him regarding this quest. Rooted in African inspired mythologies and folklore, this quest takes them to several different cities, through cursed lands and hidden doorways, and they cross paths with a plethora of terrifying creatures. 

This book is the first in a planned trilogy, with each book more companion than sequel, telling the story from different points of view. I think it’s a very interesting concept, especially with unreliable narrators, a plot thick with political intrigue, characters with supernatural gifts and some with unnaturally long life spans. At times the writing was rich and easily immersive, other times disorienting with a stream-of-consciousness-mania. The style was so unlike other books I’ve read. 

Audiobook performance was excellent, but with the writing style it was difficult at times to tell when characters switched back and forth during dialogue. I did read along with the ebook for most of this which helped. There are also several maps and character lists at the beginning of the book. 

“We don't own truth. Truth is truth and nothing you can do about it even if you hide it, or kill it, or even tell it. It was truth before you open your mouth and say, That there is a true thing.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

sepptb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Slavery