Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

23 reviews

leyva13's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Moderate: Car accident

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

mamatoca's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

Beautiful writing, but just so full of trauma with little hope of redemption. This book gave me nightmares. The magical realism was confusing and inconsistent for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse

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

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

mel_j's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Sing, Unburied' Sing' was a marvellous reading experience. In some way, I could feel for and understand all the characters and their motives. The magical realism was well-done and felt not too over-the-top; it fit very well into the story.

There was a slight historical feel to 'Sing, Unburied, Sing' that is connected to the magical realism. I loved the historical references and facts; sad, but important, they added a lot to the book

It's a heartbreaking book that made me stop and think quite a few times; very moving.
The ending felt quite rushed and incomplete, which is why I don't give the book 5 stars – I feel there could've been done more, but I enjoyed the reading experience a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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? Yes

2.75

something about this doesn’t quite feel complete. maybe it just wasn’t for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Grief

florecita_lectora's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense 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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Police brutality

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Terminal illness, Grief, and Murder

cathrynveronica's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Police brutality

christynhoover's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder

Intergenerational trauma