Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

4 reviews

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 I loved the historical references and facts; sad, but important, they added a lot to the book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

booksnooksandcooks's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-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

4.25

Definitely a book I could re-read and pull out parts of the text I never studied before and it could change the whole book.

Beautifully written and the magical realism is both transformative and also bone-chilling. I struggled a bit with the characters and development, but Ward presents the family in such a heart breaking way that the reader weeps alongside them.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to read magical realism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Abandonment, and Alcohol

cammiem8's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

I read this for my college freshman English course and found myself looking forward to the class discussions on the book. I’d describe it as Song of Solomon meets the Odyssey, this book is a generation spanning ghost story and a fascinating character study.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

A lynching is a central plot point. The vomiting scene actively made me nauseous, I really suggest skipping the next two pages after the little sister starts getting sick, it’s extremely graphic. There’s also a graphic drug overdose where

the mother swallows a bag full of meth to avoid arrest and her young son has to help her detox