Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

3 reviews

clarabooksit's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Grief, Car accident, Drug use, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Racism, and Suicide

Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Addiction, and Incest

Minor: Animal death

mnatale100's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Cursing, Addiction, Infidelity, Murder, Gore, Gun violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Domestic abuse, Incest, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Adult/minor relationship, Cultural appropriation, Ableism, and Bullying

poursandpages's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Men We Reaped is Jesmyn Ward’s memoir, & did it EVER punch me in the gut. She weaves her story in & out of the stories of 5 men in her life that died within a few years of each other.

The title comes from a Harriet Tubman quote that is presented to the reader before the book starts: “We saw the lightning and that was the guns. We heard the thunder and that was the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling and that was the blood falling; and when we came to get in the crops, it was dead men that we reaped."

F u c k.

This is Jesmyn’s story, but it’s not a unique one, & that’s the truly horrific part. I was REALLY forced to sit with my privilege with this one. In particular, I had a visceral reaction to the dog fighting scenes. Of course, we love our pets & animal abuse is AWFUL, but why wasn’t I having the same EXACT reaction to the deaths of 5 young Black men? Why am I so desensitized to this? Why are we ALL so desensitized? It’s horrifying, & is the biggest reminder that this work is NEVER over.

White people really need to digest this one. Sit with it. Sit with everything it brings up. It’s not going to be pretty. This work isn’t supposed to be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, Incest, Gun violence, Suicide, and Racism