Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

22 reviews

ejanephillips's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, and Vomit

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing

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

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 against another edition

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

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

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, and Abortion

reachingforstardust's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, Racism, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Rape

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

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

taratearex's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

5.0

 First read 2018: Wow, I loved this. Lyrical, vivid, heavy, and emotional, but beautiful, I was so drawn in to the story that I just consumed it so quickly, like I never came up for air. So I think I'd like to listen to the audiobook too, also this would be great for a book club, so please read it and then discuss it with me! Looking forward to finding her other books and reading those.

Reread 2024: Wow, it's taken me a while to reread this, in the meantime I've read all of her other books. I remembered very little once I actually started reading this again. I also did the audiobook along with my physical copy. The audiobook was really good, loved the voice actors- I looked them up and I don't think they've done other books or I'd seek out more from them. I will say that even though the audiobook was really well read, I think I personally enjoyed reading the physical book more just based on the prose, I think it just works better for me to sink into the writing that way. A beautiful, haunting, and heartbreaking story, don't pick up a Jesmyn Ward book unless you are ready for it to break you apart, but it's so worth it. Her characters always feel so painfully real that I think about them long after closing the book.  Also, note the content warnings, this book is very graphic, particularly with the deaths that occur.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder