Reviews tagging 'Racism'

jtpgdavey's review

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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? No

5.0

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breanneporter's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

This was hard to read but extremely compelling. I’m between a 4/4.5 but I’m rounding up because of how much I thought about this novel in between reading sessions, and how quickly I finished it. It follows Ceyda, the successful lawyer daughter of Korean and Turkish immigrant parents, in thr weeks and months after she was SA’d by a coworker at her prestigious law firm. It focuses a lot on the relationship between her and her long term (white, wealthy) boyfriend, Kit, as they struggle to communicate and move forward together after Jade’s trauma, and how this event brings several red flags to the surface. It also describes in detail her mental health challenges and the professional repercussions she faces in the aftermath.

The subject matter is difficult to stomach, and the author does not shy away from describing the body trauma, but I think it’s a really excellent examination of how this kind of violent assault can have far-reaching effects beyond physical pain, and really paints a picture of the types of mental and emotional (and relational and professional) issues that survivors face. The novel is also a searing commentary on the prevailing impact that race and misogyny has when it comes to who is protected and who is punished, and how even “nice, feminist guys” are often (willfully) oblivious to how they can benefit from or simply ignore actions that cause harm to women, and especially to women of color. Very impressed by this debut and will look out for more from this author.

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jmdryden's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

ceedy's review

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challenging dark informative inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

Content Warnings

serendipitysbooks's review

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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? It's complicated

4.75

Jade is a successful lawyer in a relationship with a man who loves her. In all respects her life is going well. One night, at a work function, her boss tries to hit on her and she has too much to drink. Luckily, a colleague lives in her direction and ensures she gets home safely. Except the following morning, Jade wakes naked and notices bruises on her body. She has no memory of what happened but later learns from her colleague that he had sex with her. Obviously, without her consent.

This story excels in highlighting the way the body stores and reacts to trauma, even when the mind isn't consciously aware of the trauma. Lee's writing of those scenes - the panic attacks, the partial flashbacks - was visceral and brilliant. I've never been seriously sexually assaulted, but Lee made sure I felt exactly what Jade felt. This book also excels at skewering the toxic workplace culture in big law firms, a culture which New Zealand news headlines over the past few years show isn't confined to the UK. And I don't just mean the punishing work hours, although they certainly featured. Scenes featuring the firm's diversity committe were toe-curlingly cringey for the way the committee was tokenistic and widely missed the mark, both in terms of composition and "achievements". And when Jade reported her rape to the firm's HR department, the response was as bad as this cynical reader expected, totally disproving their claim to take such matters seriously. Another aspect of this story which stood out for me was Jade's ethnic background. Her mother was Korean and her father Turkish. Although it wasn't the main focus, this book explored being a biracial member of two different minority cultures. It's the first book I can recall reading that has explored the issue. Another thing I liked was that this book explored the aftermath of rape for a woman who chose not to make a formal complaint to the police and not to proceed down the legal route. Clearly, there is no right or wrong approach; both need to be represented in fiction. This book would pair well with Prima Facie, which I read earlier this year. Both feature UK female lawyers raped by male colleagues, but Tessa pressed for her case to go to trial.
Jaded is an excellently written, powerful book exploring the clash between gender, race and power in the legal world. Highly recommended for those who won't find the subject matter triggering.
And Kit - the boyfriend who loved Jade? Total waste of space. Was so relieved when she finally left him.

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scarlatte16's review

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emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

meg_thebrave's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

This story was at times brutal and graphic, and at times beautiful and reflective. This book stretched a little longer than it needed to, but was filled with compelling characters I got to know well. Definitely needed some content warnings before starting.

Content Warnings