Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

9 reviews

judassilver's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Child death, Blood, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, Colonisation, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, and Misogyny

Minor: Religious bigotry and Suicide

autonomous_lass's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Police brutality, Violence, Gun violence, Blood, Cursing, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Fire/Fire injury

blair_w's review

Even though it is a short book it felt dragged out. It just wasn’t holding my attention so I chose to drop it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Gore, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Police brutality, and Gun violence

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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 loved this. A blend of magical realism and cowboy Western, but recast to actually examine and expose the glorification of violence (and particularly colonial violence) in the genre. James explores the legacies of violence among colonizing people, and through an Old-Testament-retribution storyline, questions if redemption is possible and what responsibility future generations have. I loved how easily the story moved between our two historical timelines (the late 1800s and the mid 1960s) and how our grim reaper shadows the story literally and metaphorically. I loved the use of an actual narrating storyteller within the 1960s timeline, as it creates a fascinating contrast between the actual depiction of history and the main character's attempt to romanticize it for his own absolution. At times, it felt like James was speaking to us directly through this storyteller, as the 1800s storyline is largely inspired by her own ancestor, and you can see how she is using this narrative to question her own inheritance.

This is routinely billed as Cormac McCarthy meets Gabriel García Márquez, and my one quibble with this is that the author's perspective is so radically different than these authors, and the characterization of the leading men in this story underscore her efforts to avoid romanticization or glorification of patriarchal traditions and colonial violence. These men are pathetic, greedy, indecisive, immature, and, eventually (finally) reflective and seeking. It's not just a story of fate, adventure and family curses, it's a dismantling of the cowboy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Child death, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Stalking, Suicide, and Gun violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Misogyny, Animal death, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Body horror, and Classism

Minor: Pregnancy

randi_jo's review

adventurous challenging reflective 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

5.0

I am bereft. I was expecting a lot of western shoot-outs, bandido adventures and debauchery, and more magical elements, but instead was served some heart achingly tragic morality tale about the nature of humans and their ability to become something new, old, good, or evil. The magical realism is subtle in this, even though it seems to start out strong in the prologue, but it boils down to the physical embodiment of a generational curse and its dissolution. 

Godspeed, Peter Ainsley. I wish we had known you longer.

A TW I think might be very important for some people:

There is quite a bit of child death and the mourning over killed children in this one. It hits hard though and is treated like the deplorable act that it is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child death, and Death

Minor: Rape and Racial slurs

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Misogyny, Colonisation, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Hate crime, Death, Gun violence, Gore, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Blood, Body horror, Torture, Violence, Cursing, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Rape, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, and Child abuse

itshrewsbury's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Torture

Moderate: Animal death and Suicide

Minor: Drug use and Child death

ginabelle's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I think I was hoping for more magical realism aspects and less religion but I admire how this book grappled with the question of how to grapple and take responsibility for the sins of the past. It was missing something for me, but I can’t put my finger on it right now…but it was overall good!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, Violence, Colonisation, Hate crime, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Gore, Grief, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Child death, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Torture

nehaanna's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

5.0

A fantastic quick read that blurs the lines of reality and fantasy in the similar vein of many  authors such as Gabriel García Márquez. The story is frightfully real, and the illusions it weaves are as skillful as any magician casting a spell. There is relief as a decades long battle with humanity’s streak of goodness against a backdrop of evil culminates after a 68 year long penance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, War, Gun violence, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Murder, Xenophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Gore, Violence, Genocide, Hate crime, Classism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Alcoholism, Vomit, Child abuse, Child death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Pregnancy