Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

47 reviews

itsemmaofc's review

challenging dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Violence, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Racism

kieshab84's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

Whooo! This book! This book was a trip! I was not expecting this. I had know knowledge of the source material that inspired this book other than the obvious. I spent the first half of the book wondering when Black Tom would come in, and when he did it was a huge surprise for me. I thought the person who became Black Tom died. Guess what? He didn't. 

It's a short book. Less than 2 hours to read according to my Kindle. Definitely pick it up if you've got time to kill.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Violence, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, and Blood

e_l_k's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The dedication reads "For H.P. Lovecraft, with all my conflicted feelings." Little else can summarize what is special about this little book. It turns Lovecraft's fear rooted in bigotry on its head to tell a story of hidden magics and the aggressions of society, and the hell they unleash within one poor Black man. "What was indifference compared to malice?"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Suicide

eficca33's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book was a fairly short read but IMPACTFUL! It was sad and difficult to read at points (because of the sadness nothing) but necessary to read. This story is so nuanced in such a short amount of pages. Kudos to LaVelle. I will absolutely be looking forward to reading more of their work!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Body horror, and Murder

Moderate: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Classism, Racism, Police brutality, Violence, Gaslighting, and Torture

shrachel_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Blood, and Murder

tey_lynn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Racism, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Racial slurs, Violence, Gun violence, Cursing, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

bi_n_large's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Police brutality, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Racism, and Racial slurs

finchthearcher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Death of parent, Gore, Racism, Gun violence, and Violence

jaimc's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Racism

laurareads87's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Well written, atmospheric, disturbing, and gripping.  The Ballad of Black Tom features strong character development in not a lot of pages and articulates social commentary without the story feeling weighted down by it.  This was my first Victor LaValle and I definitely look forward to reading more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Classism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Body horror and Blood