Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Removed by Brandon Hobson

5 reviews

litliz's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Body horror, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Confinement, Murder, Animal cruelty, Violence, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Dementia, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexism, Police brutality, and Racism

betsygrace's review

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

I really enjoyed this. I love reading Indigenous authors and think the author did a really great job of depicting generational trauma. This gave me the same feelings I got when I read There, There by Tommy Orange. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Racism

kimveach's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-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? Yes

3.75

This is a very different sort of book but I ended up liking it. Parts of it are a straightforward plot about a family is trying to heal from a tragedy. Another part includes an ancestor talking about The Trail of Tears' removal of the Cherokees from their land. And the last part is about the living son's struggles with drug addiction but is told as a visit to a "darkening land".

I didn't understand all of it while I was reading it. I wish I had read this article from NPR first:  
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/02/963361391/author-brandon-hobson-on-his-new-novel-the-removed

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Medical content, Murder, Vomit, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Grief, Gun violence, Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Genocide, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Violence, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

colettesjourney's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Toxic relationship

briwithabook's review

medium-paced

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

2.5

 This book focuses on the Echota family, and the way each family member experiences grief and is living their lives 15 years after Ray-Ray, their 15 year old son/brother was shot and killed by a police officer.

I had really high expectations for this book going in. It sounded extremely timely and like it would really be something I could connect with. Every adult has experienced grief at some point in their lives, and I was interested to see the way each family member handled the loss of Ray-Ray. However, I did not necessarily feel a connection to any of them. Maria, the mother and matriarch of the family, was the one for whom I had the most empathy. I felt sad for her and all that she endured. With one child gone, another addicted to drugs, and a husband suffering from Alzheimer's, she was surely dealing with a lot. I also liked Wyatt, but wish I had been given more of his story.

However, I found a lot of the book to be far-fetched and so strange that I expected certain storylines to be revealed as a dream or fantasy world. There were things that made no sense in a realistic world, and they were never explained in a way that was satisfactory to me.

And as much as I didn't connect with the story, I do actually think it should've been longer. I think that would've allowed the storylines to be more fleshed out and given the reader a better understanding and more complete picture of each character. It felt like so much was crammed into each person's story, but none of it really went any deeper than the surface.

While I liked the idea of interspersing Native American folklore into the story, I didn't feel like it was executed well. I actually found those chapters to be disconnected from the rest of the story. They almost seemed like "filler" and I didn't feel as if they tied into the overall plot of the book very well. I don't know if it just went over my head or if others will feel the same way.

Overall, I felt that the author tried to add in too many plot points without enough depth. It tried to cover a lot of important topics, but didn't give any of them enough exploration to be worthwhile. I also think that having Ray-Ray having been killed by a police officer served no real purpose in the story. He literally could have died any other way and the rest of the story could've been kept largely the same.

There was one plot point in Sonja (the daughter's) story, and one small encounter at the end of the book that tied into that part of the plot, but otherwise, it didn't really serve any purpose.

That all being said, I am sure that some people will love this book. It was a fairly quick read, and I did like that the chapters were short and we got to see things from each family member's viewpoint. I am admittedly not a very abstract reader, and too much of it was unrealistic for me to enjoy the book. 

I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, Confinement, Dementia, and Grief

Minor: Child death, Physical abuse, Bullying, Cancer, and Racism