Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

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

9 reviews

smilagros's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

I am still boycotting SMP but I think people need to read this book now. There is a genocide happening in the Congo and Sudan and this helps bring awareness to what is happening in the Congo. 

I will forever feel guilty for using the technology I use on a daily basis. People should never be forced into these terrible conditions due to the demand. My heart breaks for every single person who has lost their lives trying to make a living. Listening to the children stories made me angry at the world because they should be playing and learning. Not being forced to do this inhumane labor. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Death, Genocide, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Rape, War, Colonisation, Grief, and Gun violence

meat_muffin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Genocide, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse

Minor: Police brutality, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Sexual assault

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

drummond's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Murder, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Colonisation, Slavery, Police brutality, Gun violence, Grief, Child abuse, Animal death, Violence, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse

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