Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Falling by T.J. Newman

10 reviews

beltari's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

1.0

Americans = good
Literally anyone in the middle east = suicide terrorist

When I started reading it, I had to double check the publication date, it looked like something that would come out in 2001, not 2021. Where was T. J. Newman on January 6?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Self harm, Murder, Genocide, Islamophobia, Death, and Suicide

perfectcupoftea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense fast-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: Violence, Murder, Blood, Death, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Genocide, Car accident, Kidnapping, Confinement, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and War

monicabach's review against another edition

challenging sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This is my favorite kind of movie so I was excited about this but it kind of fell flat for me. I listened to it so maybe that’s why but it was confusing when it would swap from present day to a memory (didn’t happen a whole lot but still confusing to me).  The little twist was not at all surprising and the only character you halfway fall in love with is Jo. 

Content: excessive cursing imo. Many F bombs. No sexual content and no graphic violence. His family is threatened but not even descriptive enough to tug on my heart strings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Kidnapping, and Genocide

Moderate: Suicide

booksborrowed's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Bill cannot say no to taking the last minute flight when his pilot cheif asks, even if it means breaking his promise to watch his sons baseball game. Little does Bill know the tension between he and his wife, Carrie, is the least of his worries as he walks out the door that morning. 

'Falling' is an action packed hijacking thriller, keeping my interest from the beginning. The author, a former flight attendant, was able to give the plot a shot of authenticity throughout the plot, even when it seemed outlandish. Her portrayal of the three flight attendants characters made me connect with them more than the rest of the characters in the story, and I truly kept reading to see how Jo faired out. 

There were some action scenes, particularly with Jo's nephew, Theo Baldwin

FBI agent

, that took me aback. The amount of physical abuse that man can take and just keep going had me puzzled. 

Listening to this on audio. The narrator, actor Steven Weber, did a great job capturing the character's emotions and keeping the story from becoming monotone. 

I look forward to reading Drowning by T.J. Newman next, narrated by the same actor. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gun violence, Genocide, and Suicide attempt

tlaynejones's review

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Genocide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Confinement, Xenophobia, Racism, Car accident, and Gun violence

cait's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Child death, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, War, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Hate crime, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, and Gore

nerdglasses08's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Genocide and Gun violence

Minor: Cursing

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is the written version of a wild action movie. Told from several different characters' points of view, the reader is right up there in the cockpit, or with the terrified family of the pilot, or with the FBI agent frightened for his flight attendant aunt.

The character development is modest - hero pilot who pretty much can do no wrong, his faithful wife and kids, and the rash FBI agent who bucks the system. Where this is different is that it shows that while the hackers did bad things, they weren't bad people, they were just people driven to make horrible choices by their fury and anguish. The hijackers aren't shown sympathetically till near the end but it definitely changes the whole tone of their actions and the reader's response.

Within the world of the novel, the hijackers' expertise seemed unlikely. I think more background there would
have been helpful. That said, this is a riveting tale that I couldn't put down. Definitely recommended for people
who like a lot of action in their novels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Violence

Moderate: Genocide

riella_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

 This was such a wild ride. Fast paced and action packed, but I saw the "twist" from the very beginning. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Violence

jennifer_bush_73's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-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? No

5.0

This was a highly entertaining thriller: a true page-turner.  

I can’t help but love that this story’s heroes were the flight attendants. 

But what was even more impressive was the author’s ability to portray the hijackers as complicated humans. The use of flashbacks showed us the complexities of the events that  led the hijackers to this moment in their (and the airplanes crew and passengers’) lives.

Also, I found it particularly appropriate that in the background, while I was reading Falling, were news stories about Afghan cities being overrun by the Taliban since the pullout of US troops. It reminded me of Sam and Ben’s backstory.

The only thing that bothers me is the ethnicity of the hijackers. It comes very close to falling into the trope of Middle Easterners as terrorist. I don’t recall the hijackers as being identified as Muslims, but that is the logical conclusion. The author did provide a brief explanation of some of the atrocities inflicted on the Kurds by the Turks, which helped humanize the hijackers. But there is so much more to the history of the Kurds (Saddam Hussein’s chemical attack on the Kurds-Halabja Massacre). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Violence

Moderate: Genocide and Murder

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Hijacking terrorism