Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Mille petits riens by Jodi Picoult

56 reviews

yoursisterscanary's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I read this book for book club and it is not the sort of author I would normally gravitate towards.  The print copy I picked up from the library was vandalized with racist and anti-Semitic comments throughout.  Not the sort of comments you find spewed from the Turk character but more insidious and subtle.  When the Kennedy character would grapple with white privilege the vandal would insert comments about Jewish people  supposedly holding a disproportional amount of power in society.  When the Ruth character would express a desire to not have her professional competence or hiring decision questioned because of her race, the vandal would insert comments blaming “white liberals” and “DEI” as if any efforts to address concerns raised in the book were the true issue and not the institutions that prop up systemic inequities.  

Some of the vandals comments were more personal affronts and as with the first comment I described, pertained to my own identity.  This left me with the choice of either reading through with real life reminders that someone in my community considers me lesser or having a voice actor scream the most vile slurs at me.  It felt an impossible choice but I opted for the voice actor since he was just a person doing his job.

Unfortunately, I did not find this very psychologically harmful trip through hate speech to be in any way worth it.  In the acknowledgements the author even says plainly the book was written for white [cis, het, gentile] women.  The author did not engage in the topics of institutional racism in any meaningful way.  She shied away from diving deeply into where the heart of hate and injustice lives in our communities, people like the Kennedy character and the vandal who wrote in my book.  While she makes clear that neo-nazis like Turk have moved “underground” and look like “anyone”, she does not make clear that they will not sound or act like the Turk character and instead will be much more like everyone at the hospital or Kennedy and her family.  

The author’s decision to indulge in chapters long ultra violence and then give that character a redemption arch made me wonder who she thought was actually reading her book.  As if she envisioned droves of neo-nazi men picking up her novel from the self-help section while sipping Starbucks, pushing a big red cart in Target.  

If you belong to any marginalized group, this book is not for you.  If you, like me, have been the victim of a hate crime or hate speech, this book is not for you.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt

steffireadsbooks's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Read for book club. This book is deeply upsetting but not in the way I believe it was meant to be. Picoult thinks she can talk to a few people about racial injustice and then spend 500 pages yelling the N word and the F word at you and call it anti-racist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt

jennswan's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-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, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicide, Medical content, and Death of parent

ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense fast-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

5.0

Oh my god! This book is intense. I love it. Ruth is a warrior. My blood boiled because of Turk’s beliefs. I understood the sadness because of Davis, but damn, the hate was sad. I’m Asian so I don’t have first-hand experience like people of color, but it must not be easy. I can only imagine the prejudice they experience just by existing. This saddens me. I hope that all of us can be more understanding. It can never be easy to lose a child, but it can’t also be the same for people who are treated differently by the people around them. I salute Kennedy for finally seeing color. It’s a good thing that Turk turned his life around. Edison has a bright future, that’s for sure. Overall, I loved this! I felt a variety of emotions while reading. ✨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

abbywj's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism, and Medical content

Moderate: Police brutality and Religious bigotry

Minor: Self harm, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt

wolfebh's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, and Medical trauma

Minor: Suicide

stablebiscuit's review against another edition

Made me incredibly uncomfortable as a queer person to read a vivid depiction in first person of the assault of queer people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

bri_morgan's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Hate crime, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

catieanason's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative fast-paced

5.0

Wow! What a wonderful book! I love that Picoult can weave in different perspectives around the topic of a child’s death. It gives unique insight about a skinheads evolution to becoming a skinhead and a Black hard working woman caught in the middle of his miss guided anger. High emotions throughout this read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Misogyny, and Self harm

mwelp's review against another edition

challenging inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs and Violence