Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Himlakroppar by Eleanor Catton, Ulla Danielsson

15 reviews

eefmaoam's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

I claimed to have read this book when I was a teenager, trying to be pretentious and well-read. I certainly didn’t as I remembered exactly nothing, not the plot or any of the characters, while reading it. But I’m *so* happy I didn’t read it back then, so I could enjoy it for the first time now, some years later. 

This book was right up my alley, even though I wouldn’t have suspected it to be based on the genre/themes/descriptions. I love the way the story slowly unfolds, constantly switching perspectives, all the while being meta-critical of the genre itself AND the (developing) economic systems and its exploits (Yes, I wanted to be a pretentious teen while I wasn’t, but somehow still ended up becoming an adult who loves pretentious literature lol). The historical touches such as censoring some words, while using ‘whoring’ freely adds to the atmosphere and moody feel (haha, funny reference, so smart). 

While reading I kept on whisking but also dreading Netflix would make this book into a limited-series; hoping because I wanted to see the world of Hokitika and all its residence and their stories come to life, dreading because I don’t think Netflix would or could do right by this beautiful story. Turns out the BBC did, so I’m off to watch that show! 

I want to make more poignant points about the book and why you should read it, but I’m still a little bit too overwhelmed by the magnitude and beauty of this story. So, you should just read it yourselves if you want to know why I liked it so much ;) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, and Colonisation

meghancolbert's review against another edition

The plot was intriguing, albeit very slow. My main issue with this book is the author’s decision to censor the word “damn” but not the racial and misogynistic slurs. I got tired of reading the word wh*** over and over again instead of the woman’s actual name. Don’t come at me with “well that’s just how it was back then” because not every historical detail needs to be included in a book that was published in 2013. The male characters are multi-dimensional and nuanced, whereas the female characters are only portrayed in the most derogatory and unflattering manner. I expect better from 21st century authors.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicide, Drug abuse, and Racial slurs

soph_mills's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Sexism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Miscarriage

shayminxcx's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.5

I thought it was really really good and enjoyed reading it immensely. However…

a few things in the last parts could have been expanded on further and there’s a cast of over 15 people and not one of them was even a bit fruity? Also I didn’t feel like Moody’s story was tied up as well as it could’ve been.

Still was a great book, challenging but enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Addiction, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Antisemitism, Violence, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Suicide attempt

chatdombre's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

wemilyebb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

emmonsannae's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

As I was reading, I kept thinking how glad I was that this book was so long because it meant I would get to spend more time reading it… now that’s a good book! The plot was especially twisty, the pacing was exquisite, the characters were all dimensioned and flawed and brilliant. The ending was satisfying as well. Such a great read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Colonisation, Hate crime, Murder, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Genocide, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Trafficking

serenspace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Addiction, and Drug use

annahelle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Child death, Murder, and Racial slurs

bill369's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

I read this book for The StoryGraph Reads the World 2022 challenge.

The characters were complex, gripping and overall perfect. Nevertheless, I didn't grow to like them. I was more interested in the plot than the characters.

Twists, illegitimate bastards, séances, past disputes and an immense amount of money missing. Contained. The plot is fabulous! I must acknowledge that it was hard getting into the book. Primarily because of the high number of characters and their detailed descriptions. However, once I remembered who each character was, I was hooked. The story has a tremendous quantity of details. I am firmly impressed by that.

Page 480, unrequited love.
  

„(...) Vykládali jsme nesmysly a já plácla nějakou hloupost o neopětované lásce. A on mne zastavil a řekl, že neopětovaná láska není možná; že to potom není láska. Prý, že lásku je třeba dávat achronologicaljímat, aby se dvě rovnocenné poloviny spojily v celek, v milenecký pár.“

 

I was hoping the book would end with chronilogical summary of the events yet it didn't. Thankfully, this summary exists online therefore I understood what I didn't understand.

I'm proud I managed to read this book and understand the more extensive portion of it since it wasn't an easy read. I'm glad I read it because it was a personal challenge.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Trafficking, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Miscarriage, Addiction, Pregnancy, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Drug use, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, and Suicide attempt