Reviews tagging 'Torture'

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

11 reviews

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is about the village of Kosawa, Africa and all those who live and died there. Kosawa, like many other poor areas of the world, was taken advantage of by a huge corporation who got them to sign contracts they didn’t understand then poisoned their air, soil, and water. This meant that many of their children got sick and died. Then they started fighting back.

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Content Warnings

Minor: War, Grief, Death, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Sexual content, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Police brutality, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Violence, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Chronic illness, Blood, and Child death

ka_cam's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Another reviewer said this book is a tragedy that wishes it didn’t have to be a tragedy and I couldn’t agree more. Tragic and infuriating, it did a good job of capturing how different people within the village Kosawa, corporate Pexton, the local capital and various governments navigate violence, greed, loss, and morality. The pacing was a bit off for me, and I was hoping for more fleshed out political development for Thula and later Juba, as it stood they felt flat at times. The expository letters from Thula’s time in the US didn’t really work for me as a device. All in all worth reading but not the top of my list. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Misogyny, Child death, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Torture, Racism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Stalking

Additional content warnings for environmental racism and imperialism, death and illness due to environmental destruction, cultural loss and assimilation, government corruption and state sanctioned violence, etc

mia_difelice's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Grief, Child death, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Gun violence, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Racism, Miscarriage, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pedophilia, Homophobia, and Torture

roxanne_can_read's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Sexism, Grief, Violence, Kidnapping, Death, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Car accident

ukponge's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Gun violence, Murder, Death of parent, Racism, Pedophilia, Rape, Slavery, and Kidnapping

tina94's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Death of parent, Death, Rape, Gun violence, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Murder, Colonisation, and Miscarriage

Minor: Slavery and Torture

nfoutty's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Police brutality, Colonisation, Grief, Murder, Child death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, War, and Violence

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Infertility, Sexual content, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Incest, Torture, Trafficking, Death of parent, Classism, Kidnapping, and Homophobia

Minor: Alcohol and Abandonment

dominicangirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Police brutality, Child death, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Torture

Moderate: Colonisation and Confinement

kylieqrada's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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

When thinking about my rating for this book, I discovered that it seems to be very polarizing. The narrative style and timeline was very intriguing to some while being incredibly off-putting to others. I align myself firmly with the former camp, and wholeheartedly enjoyed this book in almost all ways. The treatment of the children of the village as a character in and of themselves was novel and arresting, and the nonlinear timeline and multiple narrators being drawn from one family only enhanced my enjoyment. I would have given it a 4.5 ⭐s, actually, except for a confusing, and admittedly very subtle, discussion of homosexuality that, in my opinion, was not ever reconciled or handled in any satisfying way. I was in fact reading others' reviews to see if anyone else had been put off by this thread in the story, but didn't see anyone else discussing it. I will be interested to see Own Voices reactions to this book in that regard. I finally settled on 4 ⭐s for my rating, docking 1/2 a star for this element. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, Terminal illness, and Rape

Minor: Slavery

kayleyhyde's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Miscarriage, Violence, and Gun violence

Minor: Torture, Infertility, Racism, and Blood