Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

10 reviews

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

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

crabbytaco's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Vomit

Minor: Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Pregnancy

mladd28's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

rexpostfacto's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Incarceration and servitude related to jail time

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-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

4.25

This book is really raw and hard-hitting, and it has about every trigger warning possible. It's a world that many of us who are white and middle-class don't know and have been able to ignore as the faraway south. But the issues that this family faces are solvable, and it's all of our responsibility to change policy to put those social programs in place. This book is also a great anti-"classic literature" example - it's lyrical and winding and shows that there is not one way to write.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse, Abortion, and Abandonment

mia_merrill's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Racism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

fletches's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Police brutality, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

solenodon's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Moderate: Police brutality, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Pedophilia and Slavery

Incarceration