Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

44 reviews

axel_p's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

hmatt's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious slow-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

I really like this concept. The characters are diverse and feel very well-developed, and the storyline is interesting.

What holds it back for me is the pacing, which felt a bit up and down. This might partially have been how I read it, but it's one of those that start slow and then all of a sudden wrap up. With the very in-depth characterizations, I think it would have benefitted sticking to the slower pace and being longer. 

I also did not like the narrator for this audiobook - it felt too obviously like they were reading off a page.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism and Grief

Minor: Domestic abuse

meganpbell's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious 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

“History is simple, but the past is complicated.” This well-researched supernatural Western expands the picture of the Wild West we’re used to—redrawing the boundaries to include the Black, queer, and mixed-race settlers that lived and labored on the frontier while exploring assimilation and inclusion, complicity and community-building. To be honest, I appreciated this book more than enjoyed it. Recommended for fans of Rivers Solomon’s Sorrowland.

Highly recommend reading this excellent article on the historical background of Lone Women:
https://www.tor.com/2023/04/03/book-reviews-lone-women-by-victor-lavalle/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Transphobia, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

mandi_lea's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

mburnsides's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, and Racism

sabrinaleaf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence and Transphobia

sarah984's review against another edition

dark informative reflective 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

5.0

I really liked this book - the history is interesting and the characters are well drawn. I didn't think the horror was that scary and a few parts were a bit silly to me but overall this is a great story about family, revenge, and the meaning of forgiveness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

carissa230's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious

• 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

3.25

There is something sinister about the trunk that Adelaide brings everywhere she goes. It's far heavier that the size would lead you to believe. She has recently lost both her parents so she loads up the trunk and all her necessities and takes them to Montana. Montana is a hostile wilderness, but Adelaide feels that she will be able to feel free and safe there. 

When Adelaide gets to Montana she meets a few other women that have decided to change the course of their lives and make a start in Montana as well. One woman has three blind boys, one woman has  a young son, two women are great friends that live together. Every single one of them has a secret they're trying to avoid facing.

The twist with the trunk was unexpected, but hard to believe. How, why, what? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Blood

anna_hepworth's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

I knew going in that this was horror and historical. And yet the opening was still startling, and the slowly developing creeping dread was amazingly well done. I greatly appreciate that the majority of shitty things that could happen were alluded to, and not put on the page. 

This was hard going at times, not least because there are so many things that can go wrong for people living alone with limited resources in winters with much snow, and the 'how will the character(s) get through this' was exhausting. 

The story is incredibly complex, nuanced and layered, and I appreciated it all the more as each layer was revealed. The characters are amazing, the worldbuilding jumps off the page, the writing is sparse and yet lush, and the pacing is exquisite. Highly recommended. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Misogyny, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

thatnerdclaire's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Transphobia, and Violence