Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara

10 reviews

haleybird's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

This book was incredibly thought provoking and informative, it’s just really dense and was personally hard for me to get through, but I’m glad I did! It’s difficult for me to keep up with so many acronyms, company names, so much data and stats, etc. 

Regardless of that, however, I do believe this is a book that anyone who uses rechargeable electronics or electric vehicles should read. The more people know about the atrocities that continue to be committed in the Congo for the sole purpose of exploiting their resources, the better. 

I will surely be much more conscious about my consumption of products that use rechargeable batteries moving forward, as I can’t in good conscience keep blindly consuming while children, women, and men in the Congo continue to die indiscriminately. We all need to do better!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, War, Blood, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, Genocide, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Colonisation, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, and Trafficking

zippz's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.0

Detailed and horrifyingly informative. It's an important read, but I wish a little more time was devoted to solutions and strategies to support the people of the Congo, rather than just failures to do so.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Classism, Body horror, Violence, Child abuse, Police brutality, and Racism

ecn's review against another edition

5.0

Mandatory reading!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Child abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Sexism, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Sexual harassment, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Body horror, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Cancer, Death of parent, and Genocide

scmiller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Trafficking, Classism, Confinement, Death, Torture, Sexual violence, Slavery, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Blood, War, Pandemic/Epidemic, Genocide, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Miscarriage

Minor: Car accident and Animal death

ekmartin's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Violence, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Classism, Child abuse, Slavery, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Medical trauma, Violence, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Medical content, Racism, Rape, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

jasisreading's review against another edition

While I think the connection the author makes between the previous exploitation of the Congo and the current exploitation, is a solid base for a novel it does not go far enough. I wish there had been more interrogation about the companies themselves and what they have been doing. Allowing the interrogation to be interwoven with the personal anecdotes would have been a more impactful. As it is, the writing feels more akin for a long form journal essay than full-length novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Classism, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Child death, and Colonisation

Moderate: War and Medical trauma

had to DNF when I got the line “While violence is not the answer, I understand why…” when talking about the residents fighting back against the direct harm a mining company was causing them. Like?? That was a takeaway????

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Thos is an important book. The injustice happening in the congo in real time is unimaginable. 

I can appreciate all the work that the author did to research and write this book. No one seems to really know or talk about cobalt mining even though it's directly linked to our rechargeable devices. I think this book will become more important now that electric cars are being pushed so heavily.

It really makes you think about what other injustices are occuring in the world. Our first world problems suddenly seem so superficial after reading a book like this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Minor: Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Classism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Murder, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexual assault

Nothing is overly graphic.

aiyam's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Slavery, Trafficking, Police brutality, Violence, and Confinement

bandysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Cobalt Red is a book on a subject that I was vaguely aware of, but definitely should know more about. This is one of those books that is horrifically depressing due to the subject matter and at the same time extremely well researched and written. I wish that this could be made required reading when purchasing a smart device. The DRC has been brutalized by colonialism and civil war, so to see it further exploited by Cobalt and Coltan mining is just heartbreaking. 

I did listen to this book on audiobook and I felt that the audio was very well done. Sometimes non-fiction can be a bit dry, but this was narrated well, super compelling, and kept me interested in learning more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Child abuse, Classism, Blood, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Slavery, Violence, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Torture, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Grief, Medical content, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Pandemic/Epidemic

montyalmoro's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Slavery, Trafficking, War, and Xenophobia