Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Apeirogon by Colum McCann

9 reviews

byarielshirley's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad

4.0

Reading this, is a transformative, haunting, and beautiful experience. The two main characters are bonded by the loss of their daughters. One father Israeli, the other Palestinian. The graphic violence, the grief, the poetic weaving of the same story from one side of the land to the other is deeply moving. I have been reading this over about 4 months as it’s been disturbing and I wanted to digest and wrestle with the text. I annotated this (until my post its ran out) and would highly recommend this to anyone feeling a bit ‘Switzerland’ with the current conflict that’s going on at present. My one criticism is that I often struggled to follow who the story was taking after but otherwise wow this is worth a read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

noahbw's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

A beautifully woven story(ies) about grief, war, family, occupation, friendship. 

Set in 2016 and earlier and taking place in the West Bank and Jerusalem, there are some obvious differences between these stories and the current war in Gaza - but, (despite the differences) the details here about place and people help me feel better connected to people in Gaza now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Islamophobia, Genocide, Torture, Colonisation, Police brutality, Grief, Child death, Gun violence, and Racial slurs

alp_books's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Medical content, Torture, Violence, War, Grief, Gun violence, Racism, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Child death, Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Police brutality

christynhoover's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Death, Police brutality, Gun violence, Violence, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

alenaul's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This book is very complicated to wrap in a review. 
Sometimes I felt very lost but at the same time you always followed the characters and the storyline. 
I would not describe this book as a light read but it is definitely worth the read and tells a lot of the personal stories of Rami and Bassam but at the same time its about politics, grief and two colliding worlds. Really an extraordinary book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Grief, and War

Moderate: Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gun violence

elianawolfson's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

amazing use of structure and borgesian magic-realism. one to add to my list of all-time favourites. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, and Antisemitism

westonheartswords's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Racism, Islamophobia, and Antisemitism

gerardthebookworm's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Based upon the true story of two fathers, one Palestinian and one Israeli, who lose their children in the conflict and try to find a common understanding of peace and acceptance.  Lyrical and symbolic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Murder, Child death, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, and Xenophobia

andyincolour's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

This was amazing. Very meaningful and important. I loved it. It gripped me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Racism, Murder, Medical content, Gun violence, Death, and Antisemitism