Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

72 reviews

imrereads's review against another edition

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

5.0

This is such a worthy prequel to Pet. I'll admit to being slightly hesitant (as well as very excited) to more from the universe, having loved the first book as much as I did, but this exceeded all of my expectations. I loved it from first to last word.

It's such an important book. One thing I really loved was the focus it put on all the different roles needed to bring about change. Protesting on the front line is one way, but it's not the only way. The thoughtful and impactful way anxiety and panic was used in the story just blew me away. There are so many scenes I want to bring forth, but I don't want to give any spoilers. I just want to strongly recommend that you read this book. I think reading them in order of publication is the way to go, so Pet followed by Bitter, but I'm sure following the timeline of the story by reading Bitter first is interesting as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, and Murder

sonaea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective

• 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? Yes

4.5

One of the best descriptions of activism and activists I've yet read. Also, awesome representation, strong women and even a bit critical of the system (a lot, but only a bit is really mentioned).
My only critical points are of the storytelling-kind: Some of the conflicts between the characters that first seem huge are suddenly not important at all anymore. They forgive and forget and while they do talk about it, it's easily solved (especially thinking about

the last conflict between Bitter and Aloe - first they don't seem to even care about the others feelings, being all angry with each other and stuff, not listening to each other, then suddenly they're all reflected and make up again - that's not healthy, and honestly I don't think that's how it works for long irl. Please reflect before you start accusing each other of things

). Also, the writing style could have been better, but it was a good read nonetheless.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Gun violence, War, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Minor: Homophobia, Violence, Ableism, and Death of parent

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and War

achingallover's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Child abuse, Blood, Murder, Police brutality, War, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

dalmavatai's review

adventurous hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Police brutality, and Violence

amandaquotidianbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.5

I liked the voice of this novel much more than in Pet. I enjoyed all the loving places Emezi created for her characters in an otherwise brutal world. The conversations about activism were eye-opening. This prequel makes me want to reread Pet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Racism

ysra's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-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: Murder, Police brutality, Self harm, Abandonment, Ableism, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cursing, and Panic attacks/disorders

melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

After reading Pet (and loving, of course), I was so excited to find out Emezi wrote a prequel with Pet's mom, Bitter.

I loved this book so so much. It is a short and quick read, but it is so good and delves deeply into so many important issues. This tells the story of the Revolution that happened pre-Pet and how the monsters got there. I love seeing Bitter as a young person and all the learning and growing she goes through. This gets dark, but it is definitely worth it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Gore, Blood, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Murder and Police brutality

Minor: Abandonment and Child abuse

tina94's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Violence, and War

Moderate: Child abuse

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Thanks to Knopf Young Readers for the free advance copy of this book.

- BITTER is the prequel to Emezi's YA novel PET, and follows Jam's mother Bitter in the pre-revolution days.
- Given that Bitter is older than Jam was in PET, this novel has a slightly more adult feel - PET felt like a middle grade fairytale, while BITTER is more like a parable from a parallel timeline. It also expanded the world and its fantastical elements a bit, which was great.
- These books would be great gifts for kids interested in activism, particularly around social equity. Emezi has built the world of Lucille to shear down the world's problems to just resource distribution and policing, making these a good place to start. They even name drop some prominent activists from our world (Brooks, Kaba, etc.) to give readers a trail to follow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, Self harm, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol