Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

58 reviews

sasuke's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

The experience of reading this book is hard to describe, a beautifully written story, harsh and gentle at once, and one that is hard to extract yourself from once you’ve entered from the very beginning and beyond the end. The tension is coiled very tightly and tightens; tension between characters, between times and history, in the physical world and it’s natural and supernatural elements this story occupies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child death, Death, Murder, Slavery, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Death of parent, Cancer, and Child abuse

quicksilver's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

4.75

This book is lyrical and is so full of issues to unpack. The characters are rich and fully developed, with a real sense of connection. The book has JoJo at the heart but it builds the world of the living and the dead in a powerful way. I would love to read Kayla’s coming of age story. I would also read a whole book about the unburied dead, those who died without peace, and their life straddling the spirit world and the land of living. 

I think I loved its strong sense of place most and what it means to belong is threaded throughout. The natural elements and how it ties to the theme of nature vs. nurture was extremely impactful. The idea that nature heals and the importance of a balanced ecosystem is paralleled with the importance of a balanced internal world. I could read this over again. 

This intergenerational saga is also key - this novel really brings Southern rural black life to light in a way I haven’t seen before, while exploring the theme of multiracial children and how they find their place in that backdrop. 

The descriptions are dynamic: they made me sad and made me hopeful and taught me some perspective on common themes. The dynamic of struggle in relationships and the emotions people feel but don’t speak are laid out for examination. 

It was a good read, deserving of all the praise heaped on it. Why are you still reading this? Go get your hands on it and read it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Addiction, Violence, Toxic friendship, Rape, Physical abuse, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, and Drug abuse

ananamauvais's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Violence, and Hate crime

Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, and Medical content

keatonslowlyreads's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

3.5

I

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Racism, Drug use, Vomit, Slavery, Hate crime, and Child abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Terminal illness, Rape, Police brutality, Physical abuse, and Cancer

cammiem8's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

I read this for my college freshman English course and found myself looking forward to the class discussions on the book. I’d describe it as Song of Solomon meets the Odyssey, this book is a generation spanning ghost story and a fascinating character study.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Animal death

A lynching is a central plot point. The vomiting scene actively made me nauseous, I really suggest skipping the next two pages after the little sister starts getting sick, it’s extremely graphic. There’s also a graphic drug overdose where

the mother swallows a bag full of meth to avoid arrest and her young son has to help her detox

aappel2491's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Toxic relationship

sionnac's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-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

5.0

Writing so beautiful made my bones ache. Narrated by Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chris Chalk, and Rutina Wesley, all brilliant. The horror of the ghosts' stories is balanced by the courage of the living.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Cancer, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction

amressing's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Racism, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Murder

mscalls's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

scruffycat's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction and Drug use

This is a gorgeous book, filled with lyricism and poetry. The subject is difficult, some of the characters are difficult, but that makes it all the more real as you feel their pain.