Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia

17 reviews

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Car accident, and Slavery

ashleycmms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Child death

Minor: Slavery

jkneebone's review against another edition

adventurous funny slow-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? Yes

2.5

Knocking half a star off simply because of how long it took me to finish this book - I finally read the last few chapters, but it was a hard read to complete for me because I think it was just too long! There was a lot happening, and a lot of characters to keep track of (although I'm sure someone more familiar with the mythology Mbalia is drawing from would disagree). I think the book would have been better served if it had narrowed the scope of the story just a little, and moved through the plot a little faster.

That being said, I think this was a really creative interpretation of West African and African American mythology, especially the way the truth of the villains came together at the end. I thought Gum Baby was hilarious and I liked the mentor-esque relationship Tristan had with some of the figures like John Henry. I'm sure this would be well loved by readers in the target age group, but for me personally, it was trying to do just a little too much in one book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Slavery

gabbyc4t's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Moderate: Death, Slavery, Car accident, Child death, Grief, and Racism

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Child death, Car accident, and Grief

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, and Violence

islesbiyana's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Violence

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Car accident, Slavery, Bullying, and Racism

nicolewhopickedthisbook's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

Oh I loved this book so much! It was a five star prediction and honestly I would give this book 10 stars if I could! 

Watch the livestream discussion 
https://youtu.be/vKyg2QDFQsk

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief and Death

Minor: Slavery and Racism

Tristan has lost his best friend and blames himself John Henry references a time when he was an enslaved person called his "master" mister/boss Tristan remembers a time when he was told to "man up" when he was either crying or feeling sad

thrabenvaliant's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny inspiring fast-paced

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

4.0

This book was challenging to read if you didn't skim over the historical references. All the bad guys are as symbolic as they are dangerous. But the book is very good, and Tristan is very relatable. The whole cast is relatable despite being full of gods and super-powered beings.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Racism, and Child death

kbairbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was so cute! I really enjoyed the way the author spoke, their voice if you will, and I liked the narrator (even though I too own this book, and I liked the characters and the manerisms and the memories and the coming to terms with death, the topic of grief, overcoming fear and learning confidence. Wow this book really had a lot of great concepts in it and I liked the different cultures myths. It was a fun read 😍

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Confinement, Grief, Violence, Car accident, Child death, Death, and Bullying

Minor: Slavery

karcitis's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Genocide, Kidnapping, Racism, and Slavery