Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Non dimenticare chi sei by Yaa Gyasi

117 reviews

booksillremember's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

Can’t believe this is a debut. I’m not usually any good with large casts of characters, so having 14 POVs felt daunting at first, but character introductions are spaced out enough so it’s not a problem to keep track. I cared for most characters, especially the women, even though they each only get 20-30ish pages. History is storytelling, as one of the characters puts it, and I really think this book should be part of the syllabus (maybe for 14/15+). It gives the reader so much historical information woven into heartbreaking personal stories. The only thing I didn’t care for was the symbolism with the visions, the fire and the water. It’s thrown in quite late and it felt constructed and out of place in its tone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Colonisation

itsmaryssae's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

fionafsw's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was an epic spanning generations and continents, showing how we are the product of our history and how trauma doesn't get erased with every new generation but instead accumulates. Each character and her/his story was immensely interesting in and of itself and of course in connection with all the others to create a multi-century history featuring, through a feminist lens, the deepest shames of humanity (namely the slave trade and all related injustices). Well-written and a very rewarding read. I'd love to read more from Gyasi in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation

0hannah0banana0's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

10/10 the author managed to beautifully show us many generations and their lives and trauma in this book. This book made me feel all the feelings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying

linhsreadinghour's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Beautiful beautiful historical fiction novel that follows the descendants of two sisters and how the decisions of each family member impacted the next. The writing was gorgeous and hooked me right in. Despite following each character for one chapter each time, Yaa Gyasi doesn’t fail to explore the intricacies and conflicts of their own lives, whilst weaving in the historical context and significance of the time period. Stunning book and so illuminating as a non-black person. Will become a classic in the future no doubt, a must read for everyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

rheysweg's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Police brutality and Colonisation

crybabybea's review against another edition

reflective sad fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mdal26's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

agiecummings's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow wow wow. I didn’t fully know what I was getting myself into when I started reading this book, but 3 chapters in I was absolutely hooked. The beautifully crafted storytelling of each of the two halves of a family tree across multiple generations, and ultimately places, was absolutely stunning. I was floored by the intricacies of this story, specifically some of the situations that the characters faced as Black “free” people in America. Often, the US education system brushes things like Jim Crow and its legacy under the rug and this so intricately explored those different circumstances in an honest and heartbreaking way.

Yaa Gyasi is a story teller and a historian wrapped up into one it felt like. I have been on a more complete and compelling history lesson on the realities of being Black and/or African in 300 pages than I have in all my years of schooling. What a gift she has given us with this book.

She says in the book that Marjorie is trying to find books that she “can feel inside” and I felt that way about this book. Every character was so complete and so real: you could feel, smell, see, and hear them as if they were sitting right next to you as you read their story. It was all-encompassing.

And, realistically, I don’t think I’ve heard a more real, honest, and raw description of what it is like to be a Black American today than in the last chapter of this book. Between the pages of 289-290 and 295-296, Yaa heartbreakingly and succinctly spells out exactly what we (white people, of colonizers’ descent) have wrought and the realities of how that affects everyday life of people who are generations removed from slavery itself. I was floored by this book. Absolutely floored.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Police brutality and War