Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

119 reviews

leeannt519's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Addiction, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual assault

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

This was really good and i came this close (👌) to crying, a look into family loyalty, history and relationships,
Sometimes felt like benny and byrons (if thats not how u spell them im sorry i listen to the audiobook) characters could at times have been a bit more developed but that was mainly cause i really liked to development of the others

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Rape, and Terminal illness

wisteriaearl's review

hopeful sad 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

3.5

The premise was very promising and the book almost executed it perfectly. I think Covey's past is so interesting. But the problem is,  it's the most captivating part. So when the book switches back to Byron and Benny, it loses a lot of momentum. In the end, Benny is the more interesting sibling because Byron is bland and unlikeable in comparison. I wish we had more characterization with Byron beyond "wow he's kinda an asshole" and his Byron's thought processes are repetitive. The amount of times he laments,"Benny is not my little sister anymore" loses a lot of impact the 5th time it's mentioned. 

I think more scenes of the family being a family instead of vignettes of Benny and Byron having children. I never felt attached to the relationship Benny and Byron had because it felt so distant. Especially, comparing that relationship with Covey and Etta. It is the weaker dynamic. 

I appreciate how historically enriching the book was. That's a major strength of the book. The first 1/3 was strong but the book fell flat when it came out of the past. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide attempt

beate251's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

This is a book about secrets and forgiveness.

I have first encountered this story as an eight part Disney+ series. Now that I finally got round to reading the book it's based on I can see why some people have problems with the narrative. It feels a lot more disjointed than the series, with a constant back and forth and introduction of seemingly random characters who turn out to be someone we didn't expect. You'll just have to accept that there's a big cast, and we're following them all.

The book deals with a lot of difficult topics (my content warnings are probably longer than my review!) and it sometimes feels like it's too many, even though some, like the rape, are barely mentioned. The TV show fleshes the time in Edinburgh out a lot more.

The writing is beautiful but I would really recommend the Disney+ series - it makes the book a lot easier to read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Biphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Homophobia

Minor: Rape, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Cancer

kyriannaj's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Death of parent, and Hate crime

Moderate: Classism, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Addiction, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Minor: Cancer

reddeddy's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Sexism, Racism, Abandonment, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Stalking, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Hate crime, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Slavery, Blood, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Deportation, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Xenophobia

moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition

emotional reflective

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

4.5

This was a sweeping family saga full of twists. There were heavy meditations on personal identity, memory, legacy, and so much more. While the cast of characters was kind of big, it wasn't confusing or overwhelming. While there were parts I'd wanted more from, most of it was really great. It was also interesting to hear about her research process in the author's notes. I listened to this on audiobook and I quite enjoyed it. Sometimes multi-POV can be difficult for me on audio, but this one didn't give me any trouble! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Biphobia, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Murder, Death of parent, Rape, Medical content, Alcoholism, Cancer, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Car accident, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Colonisation

Gambling addiction, being forced to give a child up for adoption, and discussion of impending climate disaster are also CWs I would add.

erinoconnor's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

A story of generational trauma with love at the center. It’s delicious and painful and almost like peeking into vignetted moments in these characters lives. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, Slavery, Racism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Sexism, Alcoholism, Death, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Addiction, and Biphobia

happyblkhippie's review against another edition

Ugh I really wanted to like and finish this but the story was all over the place. I didn't know who's was who, or what's going on. Are we in present or in the past. 

The story just moved too slow for me. I read 40% before dnf'g. I struggled to get through the part I did read. It was boring and confusing. I'm not one to "push through" and waste my time on a book I choose to voluntarily read if I don't like it. I typically only give books about 25% before moving on so I was very generous with this one. 

I think the story was probably heading in a good direction, but just took too long to get there. I also didn't care for the writing style. It was too many characters that didn't add to the story and not enough important information to move the story forward. I listened to this on Audible and didn't care for the narrator either. Overall an interesting storyline but poor execution in my opinion. I would give it a 3.25 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Abandonment, Classism, and Grief

Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Racism, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexism, and Mental illness

Minor: Addiction, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence

tinyjude's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

When I found out at the end that this was the first author's novel I was left speechless. What a delight! Every character's voice is distinctive and unique, they are complex and flawed, but over all of them, Covey's voice whenever she just took over in those letters,  completely destroyed me and stood out the most. I could feel without fail all her love, pain and regrets and those were the paragraphs that broke me the most.

The story deals with topics such as immigration, racism, colourism, gambling issues, biphobia, sexual assault, domestic abuse, colonialism (specifically the West Indies-The UK, America and Spain) and its consequences even in the way the characters viewed their oppressors' land as full of opportunities and then became disillusioned and appalled by the bigotry and lies. It also deals with conflicts such as police brutality and abuse, the difficulties both women (just for being women sometimes) and men of colour face in the workfield; as well as how colourism and gender plays a big role in it.

But most of all it's a book about family history, heritage, feeling torn and at a crossroad with your identity (multiculturalism, hybridity, cultural assimilation, etc.), feeling lonely and ashamed by unfair things that happened to you (mostly women), white lies, safety and love. Above all. It's a book about love. A mother's love for her children. Family's love, friends' love, sibling's conflicts and love and romantic affection. Love for yourself, your safety and your life. 

And: What are you willing to sacrifice for x?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Addiction, Grief, Death, Domestic abuse, Biphobia, Rape, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Classism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Bullying, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent, Mental illness, Slavery, and Trafficking