Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

18 reviews

clare072's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Child death, Death, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Sexual violence

Minor: Gun violence, Alcohol, Confinement, Abandonment, Infertility, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Emotional abuse

dreamwifu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

4.0

this was a school read, but it was truly so interesting until it came up to the second half of the book that made my brain hurt a little. i was so interested and immersed in the culture, but the colonalism aspect truly ruined such a beautiful story which i guess was the point of adding it. the end was actually a great way to end this, so i still think of the book highly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicide, and Colonisation

Moderate: Murder, Violence, and Child abuse

Minor: Gun violence

abmochapman's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

“A man's life from birth to death, was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors.”

Things Fall Apart remains a literary masterpiece almost three decades since its release. At first slow and meandering, offering a survey of Igbo culture prior to the devastation of British forces, this novel shows just how quickly and suddenly a people can be made to fall apart when faced with colonial rule and violence. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Misogyny, Murder, Animal death, Colonisation, Racism, War, Slavery, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Child death, and Violence

eleek0609's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Violence, and War

themissyreads's review against another edition

challenging informative tense 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? Yes

4.0

Look up trigger warnings.
I had to sit with this one a while because i knew i loved the first half (5/5) but wasn’t sure how i felt about the second. A big narrative shift happens. Most of the plot of the first half happens in the course of a couple of weeks or months at most. The second half covers ~10 years and the time skips and exposition is such that we lose contact with characters and their relationships which does mirror the effect of colonialism on the community. I get *why* in that sense, but parts of the second half felt rushed and maybe underdeveloped where the first half was SO illustrative and intimate. So I didnt enjoy the second half as much. I took my time, annotated, took notes on the first half but made almost no marks in the second, if that tells you anything. I’d still reccomend, its a quick read just definitely mot your Why Colonialism is Bad 101 bc thats not what the book is going for. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Colonisation, Murder, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, War, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia

nkmustdie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Xenophobia, War, Deportation, Gun violence, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Rape, Suicide, Bullying, Confinement, Pregnancy, Racism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Violence

nick13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

This book gets a three star simply because it is a story that needs to be read. Other than that,

I liked how slow the first part is to contrast how fast colonialism took over Africa

and how amazing complicated the main character is. This is all to say that this story has the groundwork to be absolutely astounding, yet at no point was my interest peaked. This is due to instead of engrossing rge reader into the story, it instead keeps this standoffish narration akin to a nonfiction. And if this were a nonfiction it would've been amazing for what it is, but it's not which lead this story to just not have the same impact it should.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Child death, Racism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Miscarriage, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Infidelity

Minor: Slavery

allieos's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Genocide, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, War, Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Domestic abuse

kshy's review against another edition

dark informative 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Child death, Animal death, Physical abuse, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Suicide

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-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

4.25

I read this for a post-colonial literature class, and I'm glad I read it. It was refreshing to read this after reading Heart of Darkness. It's consumable in its vocabulary and narrative form. 
Split into three parts, Things Fall Apart tells the life story of Okonkwo. It starts with his rise of Okonkwo, from being the son of a disgraced, effeminate, untitled man to being one of the strongest and most respected me of Umuofia. Parts II and III track a the stagnation of that rising trajectory as the novel confronts the disgrace and stagnation of Okonkwo’s life and legacy, and finally the fall of Okonkwo in his inability to adapt to the changes brought about by colonial occupation. Telling the story of colonization as one of atrocities committed against a community working to preserve their heritage, Achebe inverts the false narrative often taught in Western schools about colonization as progress towards enlightenment. The characters are not always likable, but they portray a reality that has been suppressed by the dominant narrative for the better part of two centuries.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Gore, Suicide, Death, Violence, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Child death, and Colonisation