Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Carry by Toni Jensen

5 reviews

katharina90's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

5.0

This memoir is so, so beautifully written. 

The content is sometimes difficult to stomach, as one would expect, but the lyrical writing kept me glued to this book.

The essays are tied together by an interesting assortment of thematic and stylistic threads, incl. gun violence, birds, the importance of language, and the oft-repeated phrase "in this, our America". 

"It’s okay, I’ve learned, to love the things that make you, even if they also are the things that unmake you."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Police brutality, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, and Colonisation

Minor: Rape, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Murder

cuddlygryphon's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Dementia, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, and Sexual harassment

jayisreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.25

Carry is moving and heartbreaking, written from the perspective of a Métis woman who also happens to be white-passing. I really appreciate how Jensen presented her insights with this in mind and its relations to the various topics she covers ranging from gun violence to domestic abuse. She doesn’t shy away from sensitive topics but never sensationalizes them. There’s a lot of care that went into each chapter, especially as Jensen considered the impact various circumstances and issues had on her own life.

I would say it’d be more accurate to describe this book as a collection of essays tinged with personal anecdotes as opposed to a memoir due to its structure. Not that this is a bad thing, since I still enjoyed this memoir (of sorts). Something I really appreciate about Carry is Jensen’s unique voice and writing style. It was very clear that she found her rhythm, which allowed each chapter to come together as beautifully as they did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Racism, Trafficking, and Classism

Minor: Genocide, Rape, and Suicide

alsoapples's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.0

Essay collections are always hard to rate for me. Some of the essays were brilliant, searing looks at the meaning of violence, but others had clearly been published elsewhere before and didn't fit in as well with the rest of the content. The parts about COVID felt kind of tacked on and strange.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Trafficking, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Drug abuse, Hate crime, Rape, and Suicide