Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

8 reviews

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

asiminam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, and Addiction

tetrootz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexual violence, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Blood, Body shaming, Colonisation, Lesbophobia, Terminal illness, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, Rape, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury

haleysversion's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Murder, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Rape, Homophobia, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

thescenery's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-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

3.75

 I read this with my favourite reading buddy, my soulmate.

It took me the longest time to get used to it. It was confusing at first, and the process of having to get attached to multiple different characters and storylines got a little overwhelming. However, once I understood it all, it was incredible and fun and entertaining. I wish the narrative was different, I could read it all by a point of view only with no worries. And that's the thing that bothered me the most, the book format that I wish was different.

The characters were very well built! Most of them made me very angry, but for a debut, this was really well-written. I loved reading a bit of this culture in action, and it made me really want to try the Black Cake.

The whole atmosphere is a little dense, and to me, this was a slow-paced book that seemed to take forever to finish, and something new was added when you're least expecting it.

I felt like this had similar vibes to Clap When You Land in terms of vibes, but Adult. Overall, it was a good book, and I recommend it, however I'm coming to realise this isn't my kind of book. If I wasn't reading with a friend, I wouldn't be able to finish it alone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy, and Murder

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

midnightverde's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

I was hooked from the very beginning! What an amazing read about family, love, trauma, grief, culture, and more. I was so invested in the story and it did not disappoint. I love everything about it!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Rape, Abandonment, Death, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, Biphobia, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, and Slavery

Minor: War

julianh's review

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Classism, Grief, Racism, Alcoholism, and Colonisation

Minor: Homophobia

toofondofbooks_'s review

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad slow-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

I had the privilege of reading this book early through book of the month and I'm so happy that I chose it. From the first few chapters, I had a feeling that this would be a 5 star read. A lot of times when I think that, I turn out to be wrong, but I was delighted to find that this time, I was right. This book begins with the death of Eleanor Bennett, the family matriarch, who has left a voice recording for her two children Benny and Byron that reveals secrets that stretch all the way back to the Caribbean, where Eleanor originated.

This book was so beautifully written. I tabbed a ton of quotes that I absolutely loved throughout, and often had to close the book so that I could gather my thoughts before opening it up again. I think this book does such a good job at capturing grief, and different types of it. The grief you feel when things are unresolved with a loved one who is gone, the grief of losing someone you were close to, and even the grief you can feel for someone who is still alive, but you're not speaking with. I also liked how it carried the theme of food being a piece of home, a piece of your heritage, to the point where Eleanor Bennett's Black Cake became a character in the story itself.

As for the plot, it was really fun trying to connect the different stories together as everything fell into place, and I loved the parallels that were drawn between different characters in tragic but also heartwarming ways.

This has nothing to do with my feelings on this book, but I wrote in my journal: "Every character in this book needs therapy" and I stand by that!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Murder, Death, Grief, Racism, Violence, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Trafficking, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Police brutality, Medical content, Pedophilia, and Cancer

Minor: Sexual content