Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky

15 reviews

juliethere's review

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Police brutality, Violence, Child death, and Death of parent

zabiume's review

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

The writing style was so gut-wrenching and precise, so evocative and vivid, that it really comes alive in the mind's imagination. I liked the way the entire story unfolds like an epic (somewhere between poetry and drama). The author tackles some intriguing themes, like trying to live your life amidst global (or local) political crises – and the complexities of that life as well. A lot of lines were truly beautiful and makes you ponder about human resistance, interconnectedness, hope and faith. Kaminsky captures little nuances or gestures of human behavior that pull you into the poetry and make it very believable. I thought it was very clever how he integrated the semi-autobiographical (his own experience with deafness), with the political (deafness as a form or protest or insurgency).

There were some parts I didn't get, but I think that's entirely a me problem. Overall, this was a short but good read! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, War, Sexual content, Gore, Police brutality, and Violence

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

jialatlibrary's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, War, Death, Child death, Sexism, Violence, and Misogyny

jazhandz's review

emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Violence, Murder, and Police brutality

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy

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

aeudaimonia's review

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Child death, and Police brutality

hannahlee's review

challenging dark inspiring sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

This was a brilliant, moving, sad piece of writing. Kaminsky creates an eerie, timeless scene for this narrative collection of poems, that provides a backdrop for an exploration of human cruelty, suffering, and resilience that could be set a hundred years ago, or today. Read if you are prepared to grapple with deep questions of personal responsibility in the face of horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual violence

linguaphile412's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, and War

Minor: Sexual content

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