Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

76 reviews

mayhemreading's review

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was such a good sci-fi / fantasy read! The world and magic system are super detailed and interesting. At some points in the story I literally had to get up on my feet from pure shock LOL. 
The only thing keeping this from a 5 star is the writing style. Which was mostly very good but there is so. SO. Much. Dialogue. Everything is explained through dialogue which leads to conversations like this:
“Don’t you know about x?”
“No? What is that?”
“Pfft! Well it’s only the most important part of y and z. Do you understand?”
“Uh.. I guess I never learned that (because this knowledge gap is just so I can be a placement for the reader)”
“Well, let me explain then!”
That started to drive me crazy. It makes me feel like the author thinks I’m stupid and it caused the characters  to sound immature. The beginning of the book did an amazing showing-not-telling world building but then turned into this. 
Otherwise it’s a wonderful story that I will highly recommend!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

lackadazy's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Police brutality

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

daydreamsofareader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Gun violence, Infertility, Sexual assault, Vomit, Police brutality, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

always_nightowl's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Sexism

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Colonisation

chapterscaffeineandchaos's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mittan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

salewis224's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was so tremendously innovative. It turned out to be an entirely different experience than I thought it would be, in a great way.  While I never ended up “liking” or relating well to any of the characters, I was fully invested in their fates. The author does an incredible job mashing genres together, which led to a magical, but thought provoking story.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rhi_'s review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

coltonchase's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

The book has themes of genocide and also has a section of the book with the setting in an ongoing riot status. There is a scene that’s a sexual assault. Complicity in institutional segregation and genocide is the major theme of the book.