Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Ring shout : Cantique rituel by P. Djèlí Clark

27 reviews

bealmg's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.0

I think this totally deserved a full-length novel. I really liked the premise and I thought it was really thought-provoking in its discussions of hate vs justice. I went into this feeling a bit scared because I'm not into horror, but I was actually okay with even the most gruesome of elements of this story (I think I stopped myself from imagining those things and it helped). Were this a tv show or film, I would have skipped those parts!
However, the storyline and the characters were not as fleshed out as I would have liked - I think this is, in part, due to this being a novella and, thus, necessarily shorter. I wanted to be more emotionally connected to these characters, but everything happened so fast and the plot was so condensed that it lacked the necessary emotional depth for me. Nevertheless, considering this is a novella, I was pretty impressed with the creativity, the world-building and the themes it explored!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Violence, Torture, Blood, Death, Gore, and Body horror

Minor: Death of parent and Slavery

thebookishlibra_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Torture, Grief, and Death

mariebrunelm's review

adventurous challenging dark tense 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

This book was wild and intense and uncomfortable, and I do think it's uncomfortable on purpose. We're in 1920s Georgia, USA and racism is in full swing. Maryse, our main protagonist and narrator, is busy hunting down Ku Kluxes, monsters hiding in the white robes of human Klaners. I don't want to tell you too much because the author has a lot of cool surprises in store.
One thing I loved about it was how important language and oral tradition are. Maryse has her own, very specific, way of talking, and other characters include varying levels of dialect and other languages into American English. I read this in French and I was once again in awe of Mathilde Montier's work (she's Clark's translator).
Sadly my state of mind did not do justice to how excellent this book is. But whenever I opened the book, it grabbed me. It feels very unique, even though there are parallels to be drown with Lovecraft Country.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Torture, Violence, Body horror, and Death

Minor: Animal death

mari_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow this book is actually like a movie in your mind. Capturing so much history, emotion and action in such short pages. I think it takes a little bit to drop into their world, because of all the magic and history some of the nuances were probably lost on me but I would love to see this book as a film - it’s so vivid and muli-layered. Really strong characters, this book easily could have been made into three 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, War, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Kidnapping, and Racial slurs

entityj's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Blood, Body horror, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Slavery

Minor: Kidnapping, Vomit, Torture, Slavery, and Sexual content

paperknotbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I check out during fight scenes and this book has a lot of them considering the size. But in comes the discussion of eugenics and things really started to click into place for me. For me, this was a classic (and horrifying) hero’s journey.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gore, Violence, Animal death, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Torture

kayladaila's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Murder, Death, Racism, Hate crime, Body horror, and Medical content

Moderate: Medical content, Racial slurs, Violence, War, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Gore, and Murder

Minor: Kidnapping, Sexual content, Slavery, Genocide, Colonisation, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Trafficking

orireading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I never thought I would enjoy a horror story so much but this really was incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Slavery, Death, Racial slurs, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Violence, Racism, Vomit, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Grief, Cannibalism, Body horror, and Blood

cjcrawfish's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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: Racial slurs, Violence, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, and Death

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense 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

4.5

'Ring Shout' by  P. Djeli Clark mixes fantasy, horror, and the monstrosity of racism in 1900s America to create an engaging story that feels much more expansive than its novella length. 
Maryse Boudreaux hunts Ku Kluxes, monsters that parade as members of the Ku Klux Klan. With her friends and a group of resistance fighters, she is determined to wipe out these creatures. When they learn about a showing of Birth of a Nation that will call a new demon into their lands, Maryse and her friends cook up a plan to take out the group once and for all. 
P. Djeli Clark continues to be one of my favorite novella writers. His ability to create such an expansive, evocative world in such a short amount of words is truly unparalleled. Each of his stories are unique from one another and yet they all suck you in and spin a full fledged narrative even with few words. This is true for 'Ring Shout' as well. 
Through flashbacks and more fantastical experiences, Clark fleshes out Maryse as a character. We come to know and understand her strengths and her weaknesses as she is directly dealing with them. One of the strengths of this story is the balance between the true to life horrors of America during the early 1900s with the fantastical elements that Clark uses to elevate this horror. The mix of folklore, body horror, and badass fight scenes create a story that is fast paced but also full and complete. The ending leaves itself open for a sequel that I hope Clark will write. His worldbuilding shows that there is even more to this world that we could explore. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Racism, Torture, Blood, Hate crime, Medical trauma, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Kidnapping