Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

62 reviews

shlymiller's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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michaelion's review against another edition

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

3.25

I'm not a fan of this style of mixing fantasy and reality. Like, why would the Disney princess Ariel exist in this universe? If mythical creatures are real, why in the real world would you call them mythical beings? Surely there would be some other term. Also, the writing tries to be mysterious to be point where it's confusing. Like. Just tell us what's happening instead of telling us what happened 3 pages later.
Also!!! A quarter into the book, my journal entry for page 73 is "medusa?!" I guessed it that quick! Which isn't bad but is funny. In a world where "mythical creatures" are real and there's real stigma around them, even though no one's ever seen a gorgon or whatever why didn't they think of that?! I did!!!
But anyway. It really hooked my attention after the halfway point, which isn't good, but I had fun. The fantasy element just clearly wasn't thought out thoroughly enough, but before the book was over I rented out the sequel at my library because I wanted to keep the ball rolling!
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denee16's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

I am obsessed with this book! I know I've said that a lot on the books I've read this month but I have just found books that have captured me and enveloped me in their world and story! This books main characters finding their voice together and places in the world was absolutely beautiful and I was hooked early! It is a lot calmer than most books I have tended to read but still the stakes were real and the threats just as life changing for the characters as anything else!
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readingwithsierra's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

This was such a good exploration into mythology and how many Black people don’t see themselves inside mythological stories. I enjoyed the social commentary as well especially when it came to Black girls using their voice to speak up. There were a few areas where it would cut to a past scene and sometimes these were so long or went on many tangents that I forgot what was happening at the present time, so that made putting the entire story together a bit harder. Overall, I thought this was pretty good. I love mythology and the lore surrounding it so to see it be presented with Black characters and Black girl magic made it all the more special. 
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donttouchmyfeet's review against another edition

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

4.0

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ashleibby613's review against another edition

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emotional 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

2.0

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greatexpectations77's review

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challenging emotional reflective 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

4.25

This was extremely interesting, and I think this book could be really helpful for young people who are wading into social justice issues. Would definitely read this author again - I really appreciated the extent of the world-building.
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alsoiread's review

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challenging reflective tense slow-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? No

3.0

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happyhaley's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

3.25

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kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was extremely heartwarming, with a side of catharsis. The ending felt a bit rushed, but overall I loved these characters and love love love that the author didn’t shy away from making these girls feel like natural teenagers: they are allowed to be angry, a little vindictive, naive, kind, happy, all at once 

I wish I’d had a book like this when I was actually a teen
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