Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

46 reviews

arnoles's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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

5.0

I loved this book. The threads of the generational story, both the trauma and the gifts, came together beautifully. I loved the alternating POVs as well. This book was moving and sad but ultimately hopeful and healing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Racial slurs, Vomit, Cancer, Drug abuse, Hate crime, and Racism

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Animal death

bookmarkedbyfi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Vomit, Racism, Police brutality, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Drug use, Murder, Addiction, Cancer, and Drug abuse

dios8008's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Racism

socialpsysteph's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

3.0

I didn't really know anything about this one when I picked it up. I just knew it had won awards, some people were talking about it, and the cover intrigued me. Turns out, this is a multi-perspective story set in the deep south and explores themes regarding race, family, trauma, and ghosts? I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice helping of magical realism sprinkled throughout and I thought that aspect was done really well and seamlessly. 

This book counts for Popsugar 2022 for an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner and for Whateverathon II for  a book on a previous TBR, last letter -> first letter, and S's on the cover.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Cancer, Vomit, Drug abuse, Racism, and Death of parent

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.25

This book is really raw and hard-hitting, and it has about every trigger warning possible. It's a world that many of us who are white and middle-class don't know and have been able to ignore as the faraway south. But the issues that this family faces are solvable, and it's all of our responsibility to change policy to put those social programs in place. This book is also a great anti-"classic literature" example - it's lyrical and winding and shows that there is not one way to write.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Cancer, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Vomit, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Sexual content, Addiction, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Abortion, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment

golelifsu's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Racism, Rape, Racial slurs, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Gore, Addiction, Cancer, Hate crime, and Gun violence

atamano's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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: Death of parent, Cancer, Racism, Vomit, Death, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Drug abuse

kellyofcali's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.5

A book written with shifting perspectives and narrators about a family struggling with addiction, incarceration, illness, racism, and life. It's a powerful story, and the writing style is unique and often beautiful. I struggled when it turned a bit more magical/spiritual, but it is a truly singular novel and voice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death, Chronic illness, Cancer, Addiction, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Racism, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Gun violence, and Murder

miak2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.0

 

Sometimes the world don't give you what you need, no matter how hard you look. Sometimes it withholds.

This is a tale of two books for me. Part of this book I found excellent, easily 4+ stars. The other part is a 1 star at best. So I'm settling with three.

Which might not be fair to the author, I realize. It's not that she did anything inherently wrong during the sections of the book I disliked, rather I disliked Leonie so much because she wasn't written to be likeable, just haunted and complex. I acknowledge that, but reading through those parts was just such an unpleasant experience that I can't bring myself to rate this higher despite what I enjoyed about it.

On that note, though, Jojo was a great character to follow. He really did come across as a scared teenager, but with the wisdom and maturity of somebody who's been forced into a parental role far too early. Similarly, the slow uncovering of the story between Jojo's grandfather and a fellow inmate from his teens was moving and heartbreaking.

And, certainly, the reflection on race was incredibly thoughtful and well-done. It, alongside family motifs, was a driving factor throughout the story, and we saw how it strained interracial relationships and friendships, how Pops was treated as a Black prisoner, and how Leonie and especially Jojo are treated by the police. It's a crushing look at the very real issues that still plague our society to this day.

All that being said, I really really disliked Leonie. And, again, she wasn't made to be likeable, only complex. But the way that she treated her children, everywhere from neglect to outright abuse, the way she almost completely ignores them when her boyfriend is around. Absolutely a realistic character, there are certainly mothers out there lacking that parental instinct, but I had a hard time reading through it.

Another, much smaller, gripe is that Ward's paragraphs are quite long. It shouldn't matter, I know, but something about reading pages and pages of dense walls of texts really made it feel like I had to slog through at times. (Especially when they were about her relationship with Michael, which I cared very little about. And they usually were!)

All in all, I'm glad that I read this, but I didn't necessarily enjoy reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Murder, Racism, Police brutality, and Death

miamon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Cancer, Vomit, Murder, Racism, and Police brutality