Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

27 reviews

squids_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative tense 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? Yes

4.0

Mad Mad Maddy has been hiding her identity from the little town of Springville. But a freak rainstorm reveals the secret that Maddy had been viciously trying to hide. Now this small town is tearing itself apart and Maddy is dead in the middle of it. 

I have mixed feelings about this book. I think that the overall plot of this book, with the characterization, was really amazing. But I didn't really believe in the setting. 

The plot of this book is basically Carrie by Stephen King if Carrie was African American. Which is fine but I thought that it focused a lot on the beats of Carrie without the author really making it her own. It just seemed like every time that an important plot point came up, I immediately was thinking which part of Carrie it related to. I just wish that the author made the story a bit more her own overall. I'm not going to talk about the characterization except for that I really enjoyed the characterization of the people that were supposed to be good but I thought there was a lack of characterization for the people that are going to be bad. 

Finally the setting. I want to preface this by saying that I do not know if this setting was realistic in 2014. I just want to say that it didn't seem to me to be realistic to me but if it is then the setting in the book is done amazingly. So in Springville(small town Georgia) in 2014 there is still an institution of separate but equal. This just seemed really unbelievable to me that a town would outright implement racist institutions instead of the town trying to hide it. One of the characters says that the racism of the school board is full of microaggressions but to me it just read as aggressions. I think that the overall setting would make more sense if the racism was supposed to be more covert than overt. But overall the setting was just really unrealistic to me. 

Overall, though, I set aside my belief and really enjoyed this book. I think great read, especially if you enjoyed Carrie by Stephen King but wanted it to discuss more current issues. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Blood, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs

imanin10's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Child abuse, Police brutality, Cancer, Death of parent, Bullying, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Grief, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Toxic friendship

sahramahtab's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

"The Weight of Blood" by Tiffany D. Jackson is an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish, leaving me in awe of its depth and impact. While labeled as young adult, the themes tackled are undeniably important and resonate far beyond age demographics. The narrative skillfully underscores how microaggressions can build up, leading to explosive consequences—a poignant reflection of real-life dynamics.

The finale, with its devastating consequences, felt like the culmination of actions and the refusal to acknowledge their repercussions. I found myself unsympathetic to the majority of those who met their demise, feeling that it was a direct result of their own actions.

This book served as a powerful teacher, shedding light on issues I might never have encountered otherwise. Learning about the existence of segregated proms in certain parts of the US as recently as 2014 was eye-opening and deeply unsettling.

The dichotomy between Maddy's and Kenny's characters, their differing yet intertwined paths, added layers of complexity to the narrative. Despite the trauma they endure, the ending felt hopeful to me, envisioning Madison and Kendrick finding solace and healing together in a peaceful place.

I struggle to find any criticisms of this book—it's a wild ride that I would recommend to anyone. Tiffany D. Jackson has crafted a masterpiece that challenges, educates, and ultimately leaves a lasting impact on its readers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Grief, Racism, Bullying, Hate crime, Blood, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Death of parent

hudsononaux's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Racism, Hate crime, Violence, Confinement, Body horror, Grief, Physical abuse, Bullying, and Death

Moderate: Police brutality and Racial slurs

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? No

5.0

From the cover, it was easy to see this would be a retelling of Stephen King’s Carrie. I loved it. I loved the story but didn’t care for the way the story was told through interviews. Really great way to study race. Another book I would like to teach to high school students. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure Texas has banned good book in the schools. Grrr…for that reason alone, I’m upgrading this to a five.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Suicide, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Violence

emily_journals's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

If you love horror movies, especially those considered Classic Horror Movies (such as Carrie), READ THIS BOOK! And if you are able to read audiobooks, get the audiobook, you will thank me later. 

This book is told in an epistolary type style, where there's fragments of current day podcasts, court proceedings, interviews, and hospital accounts mixed in with the main story line. This book tackles so many good topics and themes and is such a good reimagining/retelling of Carrie. This story is told in many POVs, but the way these POVs are balanced is so expertly done as it doesn't confuse or muddle the story or characters at all. Each of these characters is so distinct and able to stand apart from the rest so well. Just absolutely perfect, I can't imagine anything making this book better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Grief, Murder, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Racism, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Outing, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Self harm, Classism, Abandonment, and Toxic friendship

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Blood, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Violence

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

The Details:
Narrated by full cast
Unabridged 

A Carrie retelling, with a podcast narration style, focusing on racial identity and segregation. 

It was a nice suprise to have the podcast style as I wasn't expecting that and I've been enjoying the use of this tool or podcasts being a theme in my reads this year (e.g. Sadie).

Reminded me also of Anna dressed in blood as well as Carrie.

This was such a moving and distraught story of a young girl forced to suppress her nature (in multiple ways) under the cruelty of her father and the racist, segregated town she lives in. It felt so dated in the way the views of the white people held on the Black community and demonised them and the themes about equality in this day and age was painful and poignant.

Just when you hope Maddy can catch a break, all hell breaks lose at an awful happening of police brutality and that's when the Carrie retelling really shines. 

This was a fantastic character study and discussion of deep rooted hatred of the 'other' with well done supernatural elements.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Murder, Religious bigotry, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Violence

ecn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Blood, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Death, Cultural appropriation, Body horror, Abandonment, Gore, Slavery, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Hate crime, Grief, Cursing, Classism, Child abuse, and Bullying

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Blood, Gore, Death, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Bullying, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child death, Car accident, Gun violence, Grief, Sexism, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Death of parent

Minor: Slavery, Sexual content, Cancer, Vomit, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, and Animal death