Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

64 reviews

csoyars's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Addiction, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Terminal illness, and Police brutality

ac_52's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I don't usually read coming-of-age novels, and considering how bad I believed this one was I don't think I'll consider picking one up for a while.

The switch to part ghost story halfway through the book was really not needed at all in my opinon; I believe the author should have stuck with the ghost story thing all the way through because it was somewhat important to the plot at the end.

I do believe that some of the topics discussed in this book were things that needed to be talked about to reflect on the character's life experiences (that shaped them to be the people they were during the story). Please read warning tags if you're going to read this book, because most trigger warnings listed are extremely graphic and descriptive. This last sentence ties into the fact that I actually felt sick reading the first chapter of the book because of the descriptions (which I won't spoil, nor could I stomach to do that. Read the tags). Overall, it wasn't terrible enough for me to give it a 1. I feel like the author really wanted you to hate everybody except the main character and the younger sister by the end of the book because they were all bad and doing bad things. I really still don't understand what I was supposed to get out of this book. I was hoping to come out of it with some new outlook on life or something like that, no matter how small it was. All I came out of this reading experience with was a hatred for coming-of-age novels. 

TLDR; The book wasn't the worst thing I've read, but it's really close to the worst. The story was lacking and the themes throughout it were difficult for me to understand. If you're looking for a good coming-of-age novel, this should not be anywhere near the top of your choices. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gun violence and Rape

Minor: Pregnancy

januaryghosts's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

ames_101's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, and Racism

sydneythekydneybean's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I really wanted to like this book. It's one of my friend's favorite books, it's our next book club book, and I hate being that person who goes to a book club with negative or neutral things to say about something many people love.

I don't know what it was about Sing, Unburied, Sing that I didn't like. Out of all of the characters, Richie's story was the most intriguing and interesting, and the relationship between Jojo and Pop was mesmerizing and, honestly, something I wish we focused more on instead of Jojo and Kayla's relationship with their mother and father (which... I have many, many words to say about them and their particular parenting style, but I will plead the fifth here). Jesmyn Ward is undeniably a very good writer, but sometimes I felt like her lyrical prose outweighed the voice of the character we were in the head of. In the end, it might have been that which led me not to feel as connected to the characters as I wanted to. Some worked (see Richie), but many didn't (see Leonie).

It's a beautifully written and important book about poverty, family, racism, the ghosts of our pasts, and the hopes for our futures, but ultimately, it just wasn't for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Rape

kruthdetroit's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Racial slurs

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

Solid 4.5 stars.

Jesmyn Ward writes so descriptively. I could almost feel the swamp of Mississippi as I was reading this book. I could feel the resentment Leonie had towards her children, parents, and the grief of losing her brother. It made it easier to understand maybe why she was such a neglectful mother.

I enjoyed how she used the ghosts to showcase how our past can sometimes hold us back or make us stronger. As we read with Jojo and his sister Kayla.

She even explored the slave to prisoner pipeline at Parchman prison. A terrible penitentiary that is still being used to this day.

I am definitely going to keep her on my radar for future reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Pregnancy

titi_reads_more's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Death of parent

abbyluvsfrogs444's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

Wow. What a book. I am in awe of how amazing this is. All of these characters are so real to me, so vivid and complicated. I felt so many emotions while reading this and even though it was mostly anger or sadness, it is worth it to read. It is brilliantly written. The words flow like poetry but are still accessible and understandable. Overall, this book is fantastic and I highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol

Minor: Racial slurs

rhall19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction and Abandonment