Reviews tagging 'Racism'

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

225 reviews

eestellar's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

3.75

I really enjoyed this book. It definitely wasn't an easy read - it had heavy topics (racism, SA, violence, mental health struggles, bigotry) and characters who experienced a lot of trauma - but it was an interesting story and well done. I will definitely read more from rivers Solomon in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, and Violence

hopetropes's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Child death, Sexual violence, Racism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Medical content, Police brutality, Sexual assault, and Colonisation

Moderate: Abortion

shinie's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Death of parent, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Homophobia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death and Child abuse

kwthor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Child death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Transphobia, Suicide, Mental illness, Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Classism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Cursing, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Pedophilia and Death of parent

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Torture, Gore, Slavery, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Classism, Death, Child death, Racism, Medical content, and Police brutality

Moderate: Self harm, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Transphobia, Gun violence, Suicide, Death of parent, Sexism, Abortion, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Dysphoria

Minor: Cancer, Pregnancy, Incest, Animal death, Vomit, Pedophilia, and Domestic abuse

kadomi's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.75

What a debut. This is a very dark book, set onboard the Matilda, a giant spaceship with an artificial sun that is taking people away from Earth from an unnamed catastrophe. But society on the ship is strictly segregated. Led by white supremacists in the upperdecks, all people of color live in the lower decks and are held like slaves to do all manual labor. One of those slaves is Aster, the main character. She works as an assistant for the Surgeon, a very religious medic who is also a bastard of a previous leader, and a lowerdeck woman. Aster's mother died under strange circumstances shortly after Aster's birth, and now she is trying to make sense of the many notes that her mother left behind. As the new leader starts a brutal vendetta against Aster, she learns the truth about Matilda's journey and what her mother achieved.

It's really not for the faint of heart, this book, because it needs a lot of content warnings.

It really shocked me to see how casually Aster treats herself with creams in preparation of common sexual assault from the guards, for example.

It's brutal, sometimes confusing, doesn't always make sense why Aster gets so singled out, but it was also a good book to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Police brutality, Racism, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, and Child abuse

mothwitchlibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Abortion, Racism, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Death, Suicide, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Medical content, Child death, Bullying, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Murder, Classism, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Confinement

queergoth_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, and Violence

rc_boxnut's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Rape, and Transphobia

Minor: Child abuse

liter_aly's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

Definitely check the content warnings before you dive into this one. It takes on so many heavy topics, and yet they were so naturally, realistically integrated and I never felt like any were thrown in for shock value, tokenism, a cheap plot line, or a sermon. Solomon skillfully reflected the full crushing horror of white supremacy and state violence without erasing the power, ingenuity, and resilience of Black folks. The world building: exquisite. Every plot point, scene, and character held so much depth and I loved the sweet and silly moments sprinkled in. I wish the book were longer or that there was a sequel, not because it wasn’t perfectly paced and resolved, but because I want to still be reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Mental illness, Violence, Child abuse, Murder, Suicide, and Racism

Moderate: Ableism, Racial slurs, Abortion, Incest, Confinement, Sexual violence, Dysphoria, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, and Child death

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, and Gun violence