Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn

9 reviews

mamareadstuff's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

I started reading a physical copy, and couldn't was quite get into the writing style, but I think it was more because I couldn't hear the pronunciation as written. Once I switched to the audio and could hear the pronunciation/dialect as it was written it was hard not to fall in love with the characters, to feel where they are in life, the lack of choices they felt they had, how tourism can often have negative effects on the local people, and how individual choices have impacted not only their own lives, but rheir loved ones and their community as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Violence

kelisabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Murder, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Blood, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Grief, Biphobia, Sexism, Trafficking, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Child abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Classism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Self harm

jadenchimes06's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Self harm, Alcohol, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Rape, Racism, and Violence

cheerful_elephant's review against another edition

lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.0

Looking at hotel development and family troubles from a different angle. I enjoyed it 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape and Violence

rworrall78's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Amazing. Complicated lives and motivations. People doing terrible things because terrible things have been done to them. And people doing terrible things because they think it will save someone else (and maybe themselves). Others do terrible things because their money and the centuries of colonial privilege and theft mean they think they can do what they like. 
Shines a light on the destruction wrought on people and communities by capitalism, colonialism, violence to women, racism and colourism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Rape

Moderate: Violence and Colonisation

eleven_hummingbird's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

Exploring themes of violence, wealth, and autonomy, Here Comes the Sun follows two sisters and their abusive mother through the slums and resorts of Jamaica. With elegant prose, the characters are brought to life with engaging dialogue and palpable emotions.
Sexual and domestic violence are a paramount theme throughout. Margot's narrative largely follows her struggle to climb above hotel work and prostitution, while also balancing the weight of family and her romantic interest, the latter expanding into a major narrative exploring saphism and homophobia. Most of the female cast have histories of sexual violence, which plays importance throughout.
Wealth, or lackthereof, is another major theme. The impoverished backgrounds of most of the cast is starkly contrasted with the wealth of foreigners and the tourism industry, further split by the overlap of language, class, and skin color.
Impelled to be successful by her mother, who scrapes a living selling trinkets to tourists, Margot passes on most of her earnings towards her sister's education, while Thandi herself struggles to find her own identity and desires.
The conflict of sacrifice and blame between the family ultimately coalesces into an underlying question of autonomy.
A very good debut novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Homophobia

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

 Here Comes the Sun was a fabulous read, but one that was full of flawed characters and really tough topics. Don’t let that jaunty cover fool you- there are trigger warnings aplenty in this book. It’s set in Jamaica and really shows the darker, sadder side of the country - poverty, homophobia, classism, prostitution and trafficking, corruption, sexual abuse, racism, colorism, and more. At its heart is Margot, her sister Thandi, their mother Delores, and the complicated threads which tie their family together. Delores makes a little money selling cheap trinkets to tourists. Margot works at the front desk of a tourist resort, but struggles to gain the promotion she deserves and has to resort to other means to gain the money they need to send Thandi to private school, to ensure she has a better future and can help raise the family out of poverty. Thandi meanwhile has no interest in becoming a doctor as her sister and mother wish; rather she wants to be an artist and spend time with the boy next door. The second half of this book was much heavier than the first as it became clear what the different women had suffered, but also the harm they did to others. It was really difficult not to judge, and I needed to remind myself to imagine the hurt and suffering which underpinned their actions. What I did feel free to judge was the tourism industry as a whole, they way it grew and made profits by effectively stealing land from the locals, offering them only low paid wages, and sometimes exploiting them in more horrific ways. It felt like the only sun in this book was in the title. The ending especially left me profoundly sad and hollow. Despite the terrible things she had done, the image of Margot surrounded by the material comforts she had long desired but estranged from all those she loved was a haunting one. And that surely is testament to the writing, which is outstanding. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Lesbophobia, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Racism

kaitsteak's review against another edition

dark sad slow-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

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Violence

samanthaleereads's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Rape, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Terminal illness, Mental illness, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Animal death