Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Removed by Brandon Hobson

5 reviews

readingwithkaitlyn's review

reflective fast-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: Ableism, Grief, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Drug use, Gun violence, Dementia, Drug abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Police brutality, Suicide, Stalking, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Confinement, Alcohol, Addiction, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Genocide, Colonisation, War, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Car accident, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Fire/Fire injury

Trail of tears, f slur, s slur.

leekaufman's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Child death, Violence, Police brutality, Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Genocide, and Dementia

leahsbooks's review

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

 I’m honestly not sure how to rate this book. I loved the premise of the story, but it just didn’t seem to carry over from concept to actuality. However, there were some parts of the book that were great. The way that the story addressed the effects of intergenerational trauma and incorporated it as a running theme throughout the book was done really well. 

 

I’m not familiar with Indigenous history (beyond the basics) or culture, and have only recently started reading some literature written by Indigenous authors. I loved seeing Cherokee history and mythology incorporated into the story, although it didn’t always feel as though these were integrated seamlessly into the rest of the story. 

 

While the story begins with a relevant and incredibly timely event, the unwarranted shooting of a young Cherokee boy by a racist cop, this seemed more for shock value, and played such a small role in the plot. Ray-Ray’s cause of death played such a small role in the story, and when it ultimately did pop up later in the book, it led to two ultimately unfulfilling confrontations. 

 

The entire story just felt underdeveloped and unresolved. There was a sense that so much more could have come out of this book, but it just never made the leap. The characters had potential, but wound up being bland. Sonja could have been quite an intriguing character, but fell into an obsessive romantic fantasy with underpinnings of … other, which wound up having a completely unrewarding outcome for both Sonja and me, as the reader. Edgar’s chapters just ramble incessantly at the beginning, with a strange fixation on the word “fowl,” for some reason. His trip into the Darkening Land wasn’t ever really fully explained, and it took a strange detour into magical realism with dark undertones that made less and less sense as the book went on. Maria’s chapters made the most sense to me, but even those felt like there should have been more. 

 

I felt the most connection to Maria, but overall, the book left me wondering about what actually happened. I devoured the book hoping for a sense of closure, but in the end, it wound up feeling … unfinished to me. I wasn’t expecting the book to have such overtones of magical realism, which isn’t a genre that I generally enjoy. So this could have contributed to my confusion about this book, but I’m still feeling confused and torn about this one. I think the idea was great, but it just didn’t really come through for me personally. 

 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Dementia, Grief, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Confinement, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Mental illness

toshita's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Child death

monstrouslybookish's review

Unfortunately I can't keep reading this (made it 100 pages in). The writing style triggered my anxiety which is already very high...and there is a depiction of suicide that was too much for me right now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Adult/minor relationship