Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

9 reviews

itsheyfay's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, Abandonment, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death

bookcheshirecat's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Animal death, Slavery, and Abandonment

pandact's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

Tiffany D. Jackson always has her way of making you think and delivering the most satisfying fakeouts, and her fans will enjoy it!
The plot is almost like

Spoiler

Wicked (2003) with the themes of  Riot Baby (2020) and epic gore. Two things bothered me though: why did Wendy think fake dating would help her? Also, I guess it's cool to have an extra with a hearing aid, but why did Maddy stop needing glasses when she got powers and a boyfriend?

The universe sings to meeee!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Hate crime, and Child death

Moderate: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Animal death, Death of parent, Classism, Outing, Mass/school shootings, Grief, Car accident, and Body shaming

Minor: Ableism

minimicropup's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Complex, candid, chilling

We follow the perspectives of three high school students leading up to prom. We get their thoughts, motivations, and interpretations of events leading up to the final prom night. 

• Set in small town Georgia in the 2010s

Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐺🐕: 

• The character depth and development was stunning. The characters aren't built on stereotypes and the thoughts, feelings, and expressions of each POV is morally grey and often relatable. 
• The commentary about bullying, allies, problematic motivations, rejecting culture and race, ableism, parental motivation, and racism is not heavy handed or judgemental. It is nuanced, relatable, challenging, and symbolic. 
• This does not read as a young adult novel. Although I'd recommend it for young adults, it is mature and deep enough to resonate with adults too. The characters and writing style aren't immature or overly explained (none of the "I did this, then I did this, then I thought this, then I saw this." typical of YA novels).
• This will probably be a challenging story, but in an introspective, gentle way. I cringed after seeing myself in some of these characters.

Cred Rating 👌🩸: Magical realism with realistic horrors

• The events, how they unfold, and how people interpret them are fully developed and realistic, interwoven with magical and science fiction realism

Mood Reading Match Up: 

• IRL horrors with magical realisms/subtle sci-fi on telekinesis
• Literary fiction vibes with symbolic commentary on race, bullying, and problematic motivation
• Podcast / true crime media mixed with multiple POV narratives
• Introspective, nostalgic coming-of-age stories
• "Good for them" bullied/abused revenge trope

Content Heads-Up: Racism. Bullying. Confinement. Religious abuse. Physical and emotional abuse from a parent.

Format: Hardcover

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Blood, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, and Ableism

natnat_7's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racial slurs, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicide, Car accident, Ableism, Child abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, and Vomit

emzhay's review

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

“You said I was powerful.” 

I was in tears. Tiffany D Jackson put her whole foot in this book. She seamlessly weaved so many aspects and experiences with racism together and presented it with dynamic and engaging storytelling. I devoured this book in two days. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Child abuse, Blood, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Bullying, Child death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Sexual content and Ableism

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is a "Carrie" retelling, and I've never read that book nor have I seen the movie. This was so brilliant though, I don't think I'm ever going to even need to read the original. This book didn't even read like YA for me, I really think that any fan of horror could pick this up and appreciate it. The main characters are complicated and well drawn, the character development (for better and for worse) is off the charts. I also really loved the podcast element that ran all through the book. It reminded me of the best parts of "Sadie" which is a book I loved in 2020. If you do pick this up, keep a tissue box nearby, mind your triggers, and enjoy.

Also: Tiffany D. Jackson I LOVE you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Racism, Hate crime, Police brutality, Murder, Ableism, Violence, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Blood, Infidelity, Mental illness, Bullying, and Animal death

Minor: Slavery and Self harm

there is no mass shooting in this book BUT there is a mass murder and i felt like i had to note it somehow.

imstephtacular's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Bullying, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality

Moderate: Confinement, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Torture, Classism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicide, Vomit, Misogyny, Sexism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Ableism, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Cancer, and Fatphobia

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

Bro, I was entirely gripped! TDJ is like a spider, I'm always tangled in her word-web. I have some reservations about certain things and ways she went about this reimagining—like not doing something completely wild with some characters,

Spoiler

not unaliving Jules if (Sue) Wendy is still gonna survive

—but I understand why TDJ did what she did with the story she wanted to tell and since it's an homage of sorts I get why she didn't wanna veer too far off from the source material. I literally gobbled TDJ's writing, had to read this in a sitting bc I didn't want to get distracted at all! It was like when I saw Carrie for the first time on tv when I was like 6. I loved how TDJ refreshed Carrie for a modern and younger audience with a contemporary yet horribly outdated racist small town and that incredibly the inspo for this narrative practically happened the other day which ups the unsettling horror realism. I also enjoyed so much how she explored and deconstructed and reconstructed the characters of (Tommy) Kenny and (Sue) Wendy, for better and for worse. I loved how (Sue) Wendy came off as self-centered and self-serving bc that's how I've always seen/felt about her character, too! This book made her so much sinister, going from a half-assed remorseful bully All-American good girl in the OG to a conniving Teresa here lol. Most everyone here is trash, selfish, self-serving yet with legit reasons to act the way they do and those who didn't have legit reasons were compelling nonetheless. I liked that TDJ didn't forcefully justify everything in an effort to humanize awful people but also didn't flat out mock them. And what can I say about Maddy and Kenny, they were so wholesome! I don't care if Kenny may or may not have been under a spell. I enjoyed this book so much, savored it, and it didn't let me down which was one of my fears. And the open ending is great bc it gives me all the possibilities and they're right 💜. I hope Maddy did find her mama, and if not I hope she's happy with Kenny in some forest in the mountains or island, and if even not that, I hope they stayed friends afterwards and lived their happiest lives being themselves for themselves alone or with whoever, wherever.
But I guess this is kinda a spoiler or something but I have a crazy theory that

Spoiler

Tanya IS Maddy!! Think about it, T studied history/anthropology and that's everything M spent doing once she discovered her dad's history lessons were all wrong! M also has an affinity with old stuff bc of her dad and how he raised her stuck in the 50s/past. We never get any physical descriptions for T so she could be in her late 20s which would be M's age and she could be now so tanned enough bc she is no longer trying to maintain a false white passing image that she could be with her natural hair, brown, and removed from 17 year old Maddy to be unrecognizable. Also, Mireille whatsherface and South Carolina is a red herring used to throw off people who might want to look for M's whereabouts bc the riddle seems more likely to mean Australia to me idk. But why would she move to Australia? Well why not? America's history with racism is different from Australia's (idk much to say if it's worse or not and that isn't the point by then), but more pragmatically, she just wanted to escape from everyone and everything and discover her true self and where better to do that than outside of your damn country. And the way she says no response is best in that final podcast is just very Maddy like if you ask me idk. It's far off but it would be a twist reminiscent from A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay where Merry turns out being the same blogger. I don't know how others take that sort of twist but I like it and it'd be cool here

.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Murder, Racism, Violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal death and Racial slurs

Minor: Ableism