Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

5 reviews

lovelymisanthrope's review

emotional sad 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? Yes

2.5

I picked up a copy of this book at a library book sale.
"The Mars Room" follows Romy Hall, a woman who is about to start to serve her two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women's Correctional Facility. Romy was forced to grant custody of her young son, Jackson, to her mother, and she is really struggling with this new reality of her life.
One thing that I think is important to note about this book is how it highlights how unfair the United States justice system can be. Did Romy deserve to be punished for what she did? Yes, she made a poor choice and there should be consequences, but the judge and jury only ever got one side of the story. Why did Romy do what she did? Does she really deserve to go away for life because her free attorney advised her not to take the stand? I do not think this is fair, and it depicts a fatal flaw in the justice system for those who cannot afford their own council.
This book also depicts how cruel cops and prison guards can be to inmates. I am sure it is a difficult job, and it probably takes a lot out of a person to see some of the worst in humanity day after day, but not every person who goes to prison is "bad" or deserves to be there. They are all people too, and showing a little compassion can go a long way.
This book just did not do a whole lot for me outside of sparking some thoughts about prison and our justice system. For someone in prison, I thought Romy's narrative was pretty dry, and there was something in the tone of the novel that I could not connect with. While I was reading this book, I felt like someone was telling me about this book, not that I was actually reading it.
There are chapters throughout the novel that follow other characters in the book, and I did not think that was necessary or added much to the story. Romy could have had a strong enough story on her own, and especially the narratives of men on the outside really took me out of the story.
This book felt very "meh" to me, but if you are curious to read a novel about a protagonist in prison, this might be the story for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Pregnancy

danielakalexandra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.0

A rather quick read, that I enjoyed maybe more because of the theme than the writing itself. It was easy to get through reading-wise, even though some of the themes are more gruesome. I do think that the writer has a great way of portraying  harshness through their writing, and even where I felt that the Swedish translation was lacking a bit I could see that it would be more impactful in English. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Transphobia, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual content, Racism, Sexual violence, and Stalking

lpdx's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Transphobia, Violence, Animal cruelty, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Addiction, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Blood, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Medical content, Misogyny, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Death of parent and Car accident

lindsaylhunter's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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 one has been a mainstay on my TBR for years now and I'm so glad I finally got round to reading it. A very bleak yet humorous glance at institutional living where you can't help but feel sympathy for some truly terrible people. Gave me OITNB vibes and maybe that's one of the reasons I loved it so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, and Stalking

Minor: Death of parent

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Violence, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Sexual content, Rape, Pedophilia, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, Death of parent, Death, Body shaming, Deadnaming, and Police brutality

Minor: Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Hate crime