Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky

10 reviews

halfcactus's review

sad

4.0

This was a short but very very very difficult read. :( It's a poetry collection that's written with the structure of a stageplay, and it's brilliantly executed but extremely heavy and devastating. As the title suggests, it covers the full spectrum of what deafness means to a people, from unified resistance/rebellion to individualistic selfishness and desensitization. It's very much a story of systemic oppression, how it wears you down and breaks your sense of humanity, how violent silence can be. The opening and ending poems tie you back to the present, reminds you how current these issues still are, no matter where you are.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Child death, Violence, and Gun violence

imrereads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad

4.0

I think this is something I need to read several times to truly appreciate, yet I appreciates it plently this first time around. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Child death, Death, Gun violence, and War

careinthelibrary's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

4.0

 Powerful combination of poetry and drama. It walks the line between the two and draws you into a spare story of resistance and oppression. I went in unsure of what to expect and was swept up in the narrative, finishing this in just a sitting or two. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Death of parent, Police brutality, Ableism, Grief, Murder, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Violence

shereadsmysteries's review

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Pregnancy, War, Child death, and Murder

random19379's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Violence, War, and Grief

lydiavsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

Rating is entirely on my experience and I'm still very new to poetry. This was a very intriguing one that definitely got me thinking and is potentially one I'd want ti revisit at some point in the future

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Police brutality

smallredboy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

Ilya Kaminsky's enunciation is one of a rabbi or a cantor: it makes everything about this book more potent, more real, more than it already is. It's a work of art. I adored it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Torture, Pregnancy, Police brutality, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content

fedyreading's review

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I read this over two sittings. It was a beautifully written story about so much contemporary truth through a succession of poems. I truly enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Gun violence, and Murder

emakay's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Violence

shanban0303's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was shockingly brilliant. I read reviews and elsewhere and had been following the author for about, so I knew I’d enjoy it, but was not expecting it to be nearly as poignant and connected to the times as it is. I appreciated, more than anything else, the way the author connected the two main “stories” in the book: his time in the former Soviet Union and his time in the United States. And the way he did it... was masterful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Sexual content