Reviews tagging 'Rape'

At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop

77 reviews

carls_d's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.25

God's truth, the story takes place amidst the harsh conditions of World War I trenches, featuring Alfa Ndiaye, a black Senegalese soldier serving in a French army division known as the "Chocolate" army. Unable to bring himself to end the suffering of his critically wounded friend Mademba, Alfa spirals into madness and starts brutally murder his enemies in gruesome ways. As a grim token, he takes one of their severed hands as a trophy after each deadly act.

I would glue myself to Mademba so the bullet that killed him would kill me, or the bullet that missed him would miss me.

The story is terrifying, gruesome, violent, graphic and repetitive. The last part went a bit of the rails and was more confusing and this downgraded my rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Murder, Racism, and Death

nasra's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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: Violence, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Mental illness

maya7's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Narrated by Alfa, a Senegalese soldier serving in the French army during World War I. Facing the painful death of his almost brother-like friend, Alfa was slowly falling into a pit of madness and finally collapsed.

Repetitive sentences were a bit hard for me to get into the story at first, but I was horrified reading the last chapter and went back to the first page again, then the story felt different with more understanding about the background. 

A dark and powerful novella about the violence and madness caused by war and colonialism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Colonisation, Racism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Kidnapping

ccpetrikas's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, War, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Adult/minor relationship

rebeccaquinton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Violence, Murder, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Blood, Torture, Abandonment, War, Suicide, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Gore, Death, and Colonisation

maren_hemsath's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Torture, Racism, Violence, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Death

Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, and Blood

chingwan7's review against another edition

4.25

Actual Rating: 4.25/5.0

This book was really shocking and direct. Mostly due to the protagonist who is probably the most controversial character I have read.

I also like the use of figurative speech in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, and Sexual assault

sapphire_mayo's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Violence, War, and Torture

Moderate: Rape, Excrement, Death of parent, Sexual violence, and Colonisation

ghost_rider's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, War, Death, Gore, Rape, and Body horror

Minor: Excrement

meganannelise's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-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

Moderate: War, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Torture, and Rape