Reviews tagging 'Death'

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

108 reviews

2_snails_kissing's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective 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

3.5

i love Akwaeke Emezi’s work and was a huge fan of Pet. this book does an excellent job of raising the questions worth asking - what does good mean? and evil? what is my role in all of it? 

with that said, i was disappointed in (what felt to me) the lukewarm conclusion of it all, i was hoping for a more radical approach. i also think this book was a bit on the nose in the ways it paralleled real life bad guys (j*ff b*zos) even still, i breezed through it was intrigued the entire time. i love Emezi’s characters, the world they envision, and the possibility their books create. i love the spiritual/mystical/magical elements of these books, and i’m excited to continue to read Emezi’s work. 
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matheo96gro's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

4.75

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hailstorm3812's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

After Pet blew me away, I was hoping for more from Bitter. It wasn't bad by any means but they are very different stories. While Pet explores an individual story of failure in an overall good society, this explores how to find your place in a broken society working to get better. I think the use of angels works better in the first, but fill an interesting role here. I do love Bitter herself and seeing how the other characters were as children. I also liked exploring the role of art in revolution and how different people can provide different good works. I liked Miss Virtue but didn't think this aspect was as strong as it could have been. I kind of just want to read Pet again.
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wormiebrains's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring 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

It is such a deep and meaningful story, I would encourage anyone who wants to diversify their stories to pick up anything by Akwaeke Emezi
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saramarie_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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therewillbenewsuns's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

I loved this even more than PET, which I really did like. It’s tricky reading books that relate to revolutionary practices— are the ideas in the book a reflection of the author or the characters? Or both? Just interesting questions that I ask when reading books of this genre. Although, it’s hard to limit this to one singular genre. Like Pet, I was drawn to the blurring of reality and fantasy. I found that this was better paced and detailed than PET. 
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errie's review

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  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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edenclam's review against another edition

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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

4.0

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cameronreads's review

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4.5

For some reason I was sceptical that I would like this as much as Pet but I absolutely did; perhaps even more. The discussions in this book were genuinely so necessary and powerful, but also handled with an incredible nuance. There were conversations about responsibility to make change, when you should prioritise yourself, whether eventually peace is worth present violence, etc. I loved Bitter’s character and the friends she made. The representation, as always, was fantastic. This was a great prequel, and I think this duology is a must-read. 
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bryelle's review

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

Such a good book. Students make “angels” that come and fight for them. But at what cost. 
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