Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Removed by Brandon Hobson

16 reviews

stevie's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, and Genocide

literarylion's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Pros:

• flawless incorporation of Cherokee legend into a modern-day story
• each of the perspectives were developed and distinct from one another while still maintaining an underlying narrative thread
• striking imagery

Cons:

• it's being marketed as a horror novel, but I wouldn't classify it that way
• the sci-fi/fantasy element in Edgar's story seemed incongruous at times

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Police brutality

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Cancer and Sexual content

hippiegrrl's review

dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Violence, Child death, Gun violence, and Grief

Moderate: Genocide, Hate crime, and Kidnapping

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

darcyreadssometimes's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense

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

4.5

This book was trippy, unsettling, and stunning. The story is told through multiple perspectives, with three from present day characters and one from Tsala, an important person in Cherokee legend. There is not a clear line between the spirit world and our world, and one of the characters struggles with drug addiction, so things are not always as they seem. This felt like literary fiction with splashes of horror. The ending had me feeling a little confused, sad, but also hopeful. I don’t want to say more for fear of spoiling anything, but I’ll leave this quote:

𝘞𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴.
“𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬.” 𝘞𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”

This was also my first read in my 2021 challenge to myself to read at least 12 books by Indigenous authors. Things I googled (and would recommend googling) to enhance my reading experience: the Trail of Tears, Tsala, and the Darkening.

While I don’t think this book is for everyone, I recommend it, especially to people who enjoy literary fiction, who like weird books, who appreciate morally grey characters, and who like seeking connections across seemingly disparate storylines.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Stalking, and Domestic abuse