Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

21 reviews

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Cursing, Murder, Racism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Addiction, Cancer, Grief, Hate crime, and Sexual assault

lynettegabriella's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Police brutality, Racism, Terminal illness, Death, Drug use, Grief, Cancer, Hate crime, Murder, and Slavery

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, and Child death

nannahnannah's review against another edition

2.0

This was a very difficult book to read. I struggled through pretty much all of it and was desperately waiting for any scrap of happiness that never came. This isn’t to say it’s a bad book, because it isn’t, but it’s definitely not a fun experience.

Representation:
- most of the characters in the story are black

Jojo and his young sister, Kayla, live with their grandparents, Mam and Pop (and sometimes their mother, Leonie) in Mississippi along the Gulf Coast. Mam is dying of cancer, Leonie struggles with drug addiction and visions of her dead brother, and Pop is left trying to raise Jojo, who in turn raises Kayla. When Jojo and Kayla’s father is released from the same prison Pop had once been in, Leonie goes to pick him up along with a friend and the kids. The trip reveals the horrors of life on the penitentiary, the abuse of power, but also the strength of family bonds.

I’m going to be honest (though you probably got this from my rating): I didn’t enjoy this book very much. I have the feeling this isn’t a book to be enjoyed in any case, but I almost wish I had quit reading every time I got the impulse to stop. Not because I don’t believe what’s talked about isn’t important, but because the book is misery added upon misery and because the book has no main drive. I’m not even sure what the central story problem is; is it the ghosts and their need for resolution? Then what are we doing mostly in Jojo and Leonie’s PoVs for, dealing with their immediate road trip problems rather than the ghosts and their stories?

The child abuse also made it very, very difficult for me to read this, as a survivor of abuse myself. Especially being in the abusive mother’s PoV and reading her excuses. Reading her justify her behavior. Especially reading how, at the end, Jojo himself has inclinations where he feels like lashing out at his little sister as well. Where he sympathizes with his mother. I basically had an emotional breakdown at that point (once again wishing books had content warnings inside the covers before the actual novel somewhere so this wouldn't happen …). 

I know this is a pretty incomplete review. Maybe I’ll be able to write more about it later. I know this book has a lot of awards and even more five-star reviews and enthusiastic fans, but it was too much for me. Too much vomit, description of that vomit, and too much going nowhere with no drive.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Rape, Racial slurs, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Fatphobia and Cancer

also: antiblackness, age gap in relationship (mentioned), lynching, emetophobia

antimony27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Murder, and Rape

caelysium's review

challenging tense 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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Racial slurs, and Grief

Moderate: Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Vomit, and Violence

Minor: Torture and Sexual assault

deirdrelk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

A profound book that manages to be  gut-wretching and beautiful at the same time. While Ward is in a class of her own, fans of Gabriel García Márquez and Toni Morrison will find a home in her work.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Abandonment, Violence, Death, and Hate crime

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, and Addiction

mallowdrama's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Probably the best climax and ending I've read in a novel before. Incredibly introspective and reflective.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Addiction, Animal death, Death, and Physical abuse

caleighrosebud's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Racism, Physical abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Death

Moderate: Slavery, Addiction, and Police brutality