Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Overstory by Richard Powers

70 reviews

mavemarie's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• 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

3.75

I had hoped to be moved by this book as a whole, but only found that magic in (albeit many) disjointed parts. This book is written for a timeline that is not for humans, and I don't think that's a fault, but ultimately left me floating and wanting for something I didn't receive. There is magic here. True and moving content, but not on the same level as Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass.

I didn't feel like any of the eight(??) storylines ended in a remotely satisfying way, but that they could have and should have.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Police brutality

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Excrement, Violence, Grief, Toxic relationship, Gore, Cursing, and Fire/Fire injury

vampireph4ze's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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 think that i was meant to read this book exactly when i did and exactly as i did. it felt like it clicked into place every time i picked it up, whether or not i decided to plow through 100 pages at a time or read a couple every now and then. it contains a world i have only recently started to appreciate, and as i delved deeper i only wanted to become a part of that world more and more; The Overstory taught me that i already am. 

it is a wonderful epic spanning generations, spanning a multitude of people, all who discover - either early or late in life - that trees are nothing short of all-powerful entities that cover the earth. almost every time i read it something brought tears to my eyes, an overwhelming sensation that this book held answers to questions i never even dreamed of, that even in the midst of all this chaos brought on by human greed, the earth will inevitably reclaim it all. 

by all means, The Overstory is not a perfect book, but it made me feel something unlike anything i've ever felt before, something akin to what i believe is a spiritual awakening. i felt shivers run down my spine as a i read words that told me of our history, of humans' tiny little split-second mark on the universe, of the life within trees and the miracles that they perform that may not be miracles to them anymore. it changed me, made me feel like the thing i did not know i was searching for has been right in front of me the entire time. the two silver maples in front of my childhood home, the giant sycamore in the neighbor's backyard, the willow tree down the road, the Southern magnolia across the street, the pine tree in front of my sophomore college dorm, the first chestnut i ever saw, a thousand miles across the sea. there is every reason to give up hope, to argue that anything we do will have no impact on the future, to fall victim to nihilism and dread - but there is also every reason to keep on living, to wake up every day with the thought that things can and will improve, to look at everything around us and fall in love with every person, plant, animal, everything built by our hands and everything built by the earth's, and choose to do something that may only ever be remembered by the ground we stand on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Police brutality, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Injury/Injury detail

bazer63's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Reading through this book is a bit of work but it is worth the effort. The way the plot threads weave together into a tragedy both fantastical and utterly mundane is wonderful. I have never read another book like it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Police brutality

Minor: Child abuse and Blood

emily_koopmann's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Murder

josiemeyer's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Suicide, Grief, and Child death

taural41's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, Suicide, Cursing, Police brutality, and Drug use

elliv's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Infertility, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Death of parent

auntted's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Infertility

Minor: Violence, Death of parent, Drug use, Infidelity, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Dementia, Sexual content, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

emmonsannae's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

2.0

This is one of those books that is objectively excellent but just didn’t work for me. I thought the craftsmanship of the novel was superb, and I really enjoyed R.W.’s style. I like that the book forces you to ask a lot of questions about its purpose and the way that purpose is accomplished. But when I finished the book, I realized that I didn’t especially enjoy reading it. I think there were some sub-themes that didn’t agree with me, which made it hard to buy in by the ending (which requires a lot from its readers). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Police brutality

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death, Grief, and Suicide attempt

delaneybarry's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

3.5

The first part of The Overstory is wonderful, the second part—which is more than a couple hundred pages—drags quite a bit, but, the third part does bring everything together nicely. Well written and reflective, but the story does seem to move at the pace of trees. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Death, Police brutality, and Infidelity

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture