Reviews tagging 'Deportation'

Your Driver Is Waiting by Priya Guns

22 reviews

clovetra's review

adventurous funny relaxing tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

i feel like if i had actually watched the movie this is based on i'd get some more of the context or the ending, but i didnt so this review has zero bias relating to the movie!
this was an incredibly addictive book. damani is so witty, and the short chapters drew me in (me and my homies LOVE books with short chapters fr)
i will say the first half of the book i defo thought this was going to be a 5-star book, but tbh the ending lost me a bit. maybe it would make more sense if i'd seen taxi driver (1976)? but im also a believer in if your book cant explain it to me without outside sources im sorry im not going to seek out supplemental works. and i shouldn't have to! the ending really felt like a massive tonal change from a romcom to a thriller? which was insane. a lot of things came out of left field which i didnt love but hey. the last chapter was quite sweet. except literally the last sentence. i still cant work out wtf damani was actually trying to do!
other than that tho i loved this book. i loved that one of the key themes was "white activism" (if theres a better term forgive me for not remembering it.... my ass is tired). i liked seeing the big differences between jo & damani - jo, who is extremely left-wing and an activist, but does not see the intersectionality of activism and being a person of colour, and damani, who is really apolitical, just focused on keeping a roof over her & her mother's head, but also knows jo is being a bit of a pompous dick.
i did really enjoy the chemistry between jo & damani even with how their "relationship" ends (its not a spoiler if its in the blurb shut up). god they were so dazzling to read about. 
what else can i say? i liked reading about damai & her mum. seeing her be this bad ass brazen vulgar woman by profession and then coming to care for her mum was really sweet to read. i love reading books about people who are carers (me when i enjoy books similar to my own circumstances 🤯).
what else did i love? the pacing. god was it SO FAST!!! i love me a fast-paced book god theyre orgasmic.
like i said the ending was a bit.... out of place? i feel like im gonna have to read other reviews to know wtf was going on there. but doesnt mean i hated it! my ass binged this book and god i had a fun time. 
i dont really know what else to say because tbh i didnt have many thoughts about this book! like i fully was just enjoying the ride. i was live laugh loving reading this and most times my thoughts did not go deeper! 
and you know i love me a bi/lesbian pairing! i also loved seeing damani so comfortable in her own skin!!!! we love to see it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
anyways damani makes me want to speed the next time i get behind the wheel (which is in 30 minutes..... lets pray i have self-control) (i wont speed i cannot afford a fine my ass is financially ruined from purchasing car insurance)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation, Classism, Death of parent, Police brutality, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Islamophobia, Violence, Vomit, Hate crime, Alcohol, Car accident, and Drug use

Minor: Colonisation and Cultural appropriation

l0v3lu's review against another edition

funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Deportation, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Classism, Physical abuse, Drug use, and Racism

Moderate: Stalking and Police brutality

binevolentbookworm's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

in your driver is waiting, priya guns packs a punch to the gut with an unrelenting, stream of consciousness writing style, examining how resistance can be glorified if, and only if, the resistor fits within the context that is deemed appropriate (i.e. white, peaceful, has “done the work”) by western standards. but if that person doesn’t fit the mold, isn't neatly packed into this box, if they dare to exist in black or brown bodies, if they are angry and organizing, and demanding more than “the work” - then it’s considered violent, threatening, and dangerous. 

i highly recommend listening to the audiobook. guns delivers a fantastic performance, barreling off the page and into the stark reality that this book aims to confront. there is lasting significance in guns social commentary that seems particularly poignant today amidst our current political atmosphere and the global call for a ceasefire in gaza. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Classism, Police brutality, Colonisation, Death of parent, Racism, and Islamophobia

Minor: Antisemitism, Deportation, Vomit, Cultural appropriation, Violence, Stalking, and Trafficking

florecita_lectora's review

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Grief, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Police brutality, Deportation, and Gaslighting

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark funny reflective tense

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Police brutality

Moderate: Car accident, Violence, Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Animal death, Drug use, Confinement, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, and Medical content

Minor: Excrement, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Mental illness

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

 Your Driver is Waiting is the story of Damani, grieving the death of her father, dealing with the realities of being a Brown woman in North America, and juggling looking after her mother with her job as a driver on a ride share app. This is not a book that’s at all subtle about its political messaging. Sometimes that can be hit or miss for me but here it totally worked. I loved the book’s focus on social activism, the way it called out a myriad of social problems and inequalities, most especially the way it highlighted the unfair and exploitative labour practices of ride share apps and business which run on a similar model. I also very much enjoyed Damani as a protagonist. She was kind hearted, smart, often cynical and sarcastic, willing to work hard to try and get ahead but all too aware that society and the government have stacked the odds against her. She was far from perfect, and her obsession with Jolene was one aspect of the book that did not work for me. The character of Jolene though was brilliant - such a perfect caricature, an example of exactly what not to do and how not to behave for any privileged white women who are trying to be an ally and support marginalised groups achieve social change.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia

Moderate: Deportation and Police brutality

platypusinrainboots's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Police brutality

sarah984's review

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This modern-day reimagining of Taxi Driver blisters right along Damani's wild, self-destructive path, but I felt like it pulled back a little too much in what should have been its biggest moment. Loved the ending, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Stalking, Violence, Classism, Deportation, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Minor: Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Self harm, Ableism, Alcohol, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Police brutality

floral_heckler's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deportation, Racism, and Police brutality

luisagerdsmeyer's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deportation, Death of parent, and Police brutality