Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Stealing by Margaret Verble

12 reviews

sjanke2's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Racism, Classism, Genocide, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Addiction, and Alcoholism

gwenswoons's review

challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

katrinky's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense

3.5

the most telling thing about this book for me was the acknowledgements section,where verble said she wrote this book in 2006-2007 but held onto it for years because non-native readers and editors didn't know what Indian residential schools were and couldn't fathom the depth of their depravity; that what happened to kit at one was too much of a break from verble's otherwise crystal clear, realistic writing style. so the publication of this book was really only made possible by the horror of discovery by white folks in the last 5-10 years that she had not actually been exaggerating in the slightest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Racism, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Gun violence, and Grief

fiberreader's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Death of parent

micaelawright's review

dark emotional reflective slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Racism

lcg527's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Terminal illness

lizzyjacka's review

emotional

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Sexual assault

Minor: Physical abuse and Murder

sarahweyand's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? No

3.5

The synopsis describes this as a "gut-punch" of a novel and I think that's better wording than whatever I was going to come up with. I do think the blurb was slightly misleading; this book focused a lot more on Kit's pre-boarding school days than I had anticipated, which was a little disappointing to me. Now, I don't know that I really want to spend more time reading about Kit's school experiences, since those were the most nauseating chapters, but I do think those sections could have been better developed.

I really enjoyed the writing style and perspective that Verble chose. Reading (or listening, in my case) to this story in the first-person perspective of a young kid provides special insight into how Kit sees the world, what she doesn't understand, and how hard it can be to communicate how you feel as a child.

While the ending and convergence of timelines felt a little rushed and I fear this book won't stand out among others that I read this year, I do think this was an interesting title worth taking a look at, if you feel you can stomach the content.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism and Murder

mike_the_goblin's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? No

5.0

Read the book. It's hard. It is no where near a light read, but it is powerful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Racism and Sexism

wiscojulius's review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault