Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Small Island by Andrea Levy

5 reviews

greenan26's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and Classism

nyne's review

emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, War, and Xenophobia

crazytourists_books's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I really liked this book. I was a bit unsure at first but slowly it got a grasp on me that was getting tighter by the page and towards the end I read it with one breath, I didn't want it to finish. 
I liked the characters, they could all be my next door neighbours, people I meet everyday at my kids school. They were very well developed,  with good and bad moments, with flaws and virtues. They could be real humans. And that, in combination with a good story, is what makes a great book. 
The story itself is quite interesting, the pre and post WWII English society, with the not so subtle racism towards the citizens of their colonies, who were obviously good enough to exploit and use and have them fight in the war but not good enough to walk in the pavements of "the mother country", work and live and prosper. 
It does show the ugly face of England, that mentality and argument used by the brexit supporters against immigrants. And that ugly face is portrayed brilliantly. 
A great book, a worthy winner of the awards that it received. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, War, Mental illness, and Xenophobia

pia_h's review

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• 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: Colonisation, Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Death of parent, Genocide, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Violence

Minor: Blood and Grief

sarah984's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• 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

This was an interesting and heartbreaking novel about Jamaican soldiers who served on behalf of the British Empire during World War II, and the racism they faced both as a "different sort of Black" from American GIs and in England after the war.

The character voices were all unique and it was interesting to see the same situations from their different points of view. I docked a star because it started getting kind of melodramatic and silly near the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Dementia, and Gun violence

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Excrement, Terminal illness, and Incest

I marked incest here because there is a character who is in love with her second cousin and spends a significant portion of the novel obsessing over him, but nothing much actually happens between them.