Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

15 reviews

bibliomania_express's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

5.0

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann is a gripping and thought-provoking account of the voyage and shipwreck of HMS Wager in the 1740s. Drawing on primary sources and thorough archival research, Grann reconstructs the hardships of the voyage from before the ships set sail, through its perilous journey, shipwreck, mutiny, and court-martial. If you are squeamish about descriptions of disease and death, take care, but I do think Grann tow the lines of factual without going into excessive details. 

The story of the Wager is heartbreaking and amazing, with falliable human ingenuity and the unrelenting power of hope coming up against the forces of nature, disease, delerium, and himan depravity. 

I really enjoyed Grann's writing. He made the story feel engaging as a living narrative rather than a historical account. I also appreciated how he took the time to call out the intrisic racism and imperialist motives of the venture. He made space for the indigenous peoples of South America, the African slave trade, and even class divides amongst the British. 

I was mainly surprised by how the court martial ended, and I appreciated Grann's discussion of why it went the way it did. 

Overall, a fantastic book.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Animal death, War, Medical content, Violence, Chronic illness, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Murder, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Torture, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Slavery, Child death, and Cannibalism

creativerunnings's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, War, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Cannibalism

alisonvh's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative fast-paced

3.5

This book is well written and has a fascinating subject, but it just didn’t grab me for some reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Colonisation, Animal death, Death, Child death, Violence, Terminal illness, Murder, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Chronic illness

Minor: Cannibalism

ninjamuse's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Racism, Racial slurs, Slavery, and Cannibalism

cityiguana's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Violence, War, and Chronic illness

Minor: Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Slavery, and Torture