alannah_irwin's reviews
226 reviews

Children of the Troubles by Joe Duffy, Freya McClements

challenging dark informative slow-paced

5.0

Most painful book I have ever read, from seeing familiar names to seeing the direct state actors (& their UVF team members) executing our children in the street never receiving the barest acknowledgment of wrong doing. Got physically sick at times reading this & knowing that they committed 80% of the 100+ execution style deaths of <15yrs and younger Irish Catholics with hardly any accountability & trying to assign all blame for the IRA- who, as you'll see in this book, the majority of the kids tragically dying were their own kids when homemade bombs went off in the kitchen.
Anyway, rant over. Devastating for all and never has justice been given.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang

challenging dark informative slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

1916: One Hundred Years of Irish Independence by Tim Pat Coogan

informative medium-paced

3.75

The Famine Plot: England's Role in Ireland's Greatest Tragedy by Tim Pat Coogan

dark informative slow-paced

5.0

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

emotional funny sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story by Julie K. Brown

challenging dark informative slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence

The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye

hopeful mysterious fast-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Drug use, Racism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy by David Zucchino

dark informative sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War

Counseling Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse by Claire Burke Draucker

challenging dark informative slow-paced

3.5

The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty

adventurous dark sad 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

4.25