Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Verge: Stories by Lidia Yuknavitch

5 reviews

vigil's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

like my experience with thrust, i adored this book. yuknavitch isn’t one to pull her punches and isn’t afraid to get weird with it in a way that i really enjoyed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and Murder

twilightfan420's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

What a collection of stories! Some of them (like the first - The Organ Runner) made me so sad and unsettled I felt sick. Others, like the one about Bosche and Aram filled me with so much warmth by the end I wanted to read more of their story. Fast-paced and unique, this collection truly explores characters caught up on the precipice of SOMETHING whatever that may be. Stories of resilience followed stories of melancholy in such a natural way the vignettes really felt like snapshots of life. I especially love how the dialogue flowed right through the paragraphs and the representation of queer characters of all identities and socioeconomic classes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Alcohol

savvylit's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

About a decade ago, I read Yuknavitch's memoir The Chronology of Water and loved it. Yuknavitch has a distinct, raw way of writing that I was delighted to rediscover in Verge. Each of the stories in this collection presents individual people experiencing extremes. A young child delivers organs on the black market, a sex trafficked girl dreams of escape, a lonely janitor creates a city out of trash, a young woman deals drugs to prisoners... Describing these often difficult-to-stomach situations, Yuknavitch explores the humanity of her characters in an incredibly non-moralizing and empathetic manner. However, as Verge progressed, the stories began to feel repetitive - especially in the way sex was used as a consistent shock factor. Ultimately, I feel very indifferent to this book. I'm not sure what Yuknavitch was trying to achieve.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, and Medical trauma

magdagug's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Please look at the content warnings before reading! I believe a lot of the book could be triggering. Proceed with caution

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

caroline_norrish'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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, and Blood