Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

11 reviews

billie_visible's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Hate crime, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

Minor: Homophobia and Abortion

vrkinase0411's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Rape and Xenophobia

sarkenobi's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Torture, Xenophobia, Ableism, Classism, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Gore, Homophobia, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Abortion, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Miscarriage

Minor: Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Vomit

oworthyfool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

Rivers Solomon weaves a deft tale of oppression, family, and ultimately hope in the face of human evil. A timely story of how society turns on the less fortunate and intentionally marginalized, the focus nonetheless is of Aster struggling to make sense of her mother's death, the day of her own birth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Vomit, Dysphoria, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, Child abuse, Classism, Murder, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, Confinement, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Hate crime

Moderate: Abortion, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, and Excrement

necromandy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

best book I have ever read. changed my life in three hours. I will remember this book like no other book I have ever read, that is a promise. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Abortion, Ableism, Death, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault

Moderate: Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Cursing, Confinement, Classism, Blood, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Infertility

tahsintries's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Grief, Homophobia, Bullying, Medical content, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Ableism, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Torture, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

moot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is an important book. Thw best and most interesting MC I've read in a while. But please read the content warnings. It's a challenging read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Racism, Physical abuse, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Pregnancy and Abortion

lolajh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

A black autistic intersex nonbinary lesbian main character, Aster, in space! Aster’s childhood best friend is Giselle, whose character arc was heartbreaking and traumatic and so raw and real that she and Aster became my favourite characters. Giselle had some minor chapters in her point of view that I wish we got more of because of how interesting of a character she was.

There was also kind of a lead up to what I thought would be a romance or attraction between both Aster and Giselle which didn’t happen, but was understandable due to Giselle’s mental state at the time. Instead Aster romances with Theo, the space ship’s surgeon, who I always saw as more of a parental figure to Aster than a romance, but it developed anyway. Both Theo and Aster are genderqueer; Rivers described online as Aster being nonbinary and Theo a trans woman, which was nice to see and I still very much liked Theo’s character and their experiences and discussions of gender, HOWEVER, there was a sex scene between Aster and Theo in which Aster asks for them to not penetrate her but also not saying what they could do, but Theo goes down on her anyway. So I think there was a mistranslation of proper consent being done here, which is what let down Theo’s character for me, especially after Aster had already had experiences with sexual assault and rape, it really surprised me that Theo would not be so caring and thorough to ask consent of her properly before doing anything. Before that happened as well they do kiss her face and lips without Aster’s consent, dominating over her and overall it seeming like an unbalanced power dynamic that shouldn’t have happened and then Aster continuing to romance them afterwards.

 

Throughout the story Aster uncovers the mysteries of her mother’s death and the blackouts occurring currently on the ship all whilst dealing with trauma and systemic racism and standing up to it more than anyone had done before. Aster is such a strong and admirable character and I loved her progressions of exploring her gender. Will be visiting more of Rivers’ books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Suicide attempt, Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Religious bigotry, Torture, Ableism, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Suicide

evilwizard's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

5.0

This story is very, very dark, but also incredibly well-written and compelling. It provides a fresh take on both the dystopian genre and the sci-fi genre as a whole, mixing in historical elements (and symbolically representing, in my opinion, the frightening way that the past can become the future in regards to oppression). The characters narrating the story are all very complex and have interesting stories to tell. I can't really say I "enjoyed" it, but it was an excellent book and I absolutely would recommend it to anyone who can stomach the content.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Transphobia

Minor: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Excrement, and Homophobia

mslaureeslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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: Sexual assault, Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Suicide, Torture, Slavery, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Grief, Genocide, Death, and Confinement