Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

87 reviews

pizzaisjesus98's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Confinement, Sexual assault, Slavery, Medical content, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Deportation

walrus420's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Murder

book_cave_ghost_girl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

A beyond-fiery indictment of everyday and institutional racism and how it pushes ordinary people to extremes, like a bucket of ice water on your face

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Murder

coolfijiwater's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

angelkisses's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Violence, and Police brutality

sofipitch's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

This was entertaining, it does a great job of taking Lovecraft and reshaping it. I think my one complaint is that it was too short, I would actually like more to this story

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Police brutality

the_bees_books's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-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? No

3.75

For fans of Jordan Peele, Candyman, Lovecraft Country and the black horror genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Grief

grimdark_dad's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Classism

scarroll178's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Murder

amandadevoursbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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 is part of tordotcom's four novella set re-imagining HP Lovecraft stories. The other novellas include the Dream Quest of Villet Boe, Agents of Dreamland, and Hammers on Bone. 

In this book, Lavalle takes HP Lovecrafts arguably most racist story and reworks it with a Black Protagonist and very white detective. 

Charles Thomas Tester is a street musician. He's not very good. He makes most of his money busking, and he occasionally delivers packages. As he goes about his day, he meets a rich eccentric white man who invites him to play at a party in his mansion. The story unfolds in a matter of days as Tester copes with the world he's been invited into. 

The white cop's POV was hard to read. Both men use their identities to keep themselves safe and both men learn what happens when their identities are removed.  

The police murdering Charles dad gutted me, and it forced me to reflect on our existing systems that allow Black men to be killed and white cops to walk away.

If you are a person who likes reimagining of HP Lovecraft's work like the City we Became and if you like speculative fiction, you will likely appreciate this book.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Police brutality