Reviews tagging 'Deportation'

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray

6 reviews

nightstitch96's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Deportation

Minor: Ableism, Slavery, and Forced institutionalization

annakh16's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

Well, what can I say? I loved it. Forgive the long review, but I want to gush for a minute.

The pacing has improved a lot from the last book. I think this is partly due to each character getting more individual narration - they all got their due this time, other than Ling and Henry, but since they were the MCs of the last book it seemed only fair. I loved the

asexual rep

for Ling though. 

And the characters? They’re all my favourite. The banter between Sam and Jericho was hilarious. Memphis is truly a man after my own heart (“What, you don’t have a favourite librarian?!“). Isaiah is the sweetest as always, and

if anyone hurts either of them, I‘m gonna fucking riot. That “dark future“ the King of Crows was hinting at? Nothing doing. I simply won’t allow it

. Theta was great in this one, her story all heartbreaking and harrowing and powerful. Evie is more mature at last (I must admit I have a sweet spot for her). TS Woodhouse is randomly funny and I‘m here for it. 

There seems to be a dislike for Mabel in this review section and I don’t get it, maybe because I relate to her a bit. I enjoyed her storyline this book and

though she was always a likely character to die, she went out with a bang (see what I did there?). I‘m glad Bray did her justice

. 

Lastly, Bray never misses with new characters and Connor was no exception. His story had me right in the feels.

@Libba Bray: You had no right to kill him off like that. You had no right! (His and Will‘s death did seem slightly rushed, but the rapid succession also made for good tension)

. 

I love the fact that there were multiple villains, all bound up in the larger scheme but with very different motives. 

The King of Crows being a metaphor for

the “ghosts“ of America

? What a great idea, and well in line with the respect for diverse histories throughout this series. 

Bill Johnson‘s arc was really interesting, too. Moving back and forth between pity and disgust for him. I audibly gasped when

it was revealed he was only 37 years old!

. 

I was happy most key revelations came earlier in the book, as I‘d guessed most of them already. Was I the only one convinced though that

Sarah from Nebraska was Sarah Snow

? 

I heard that the last book in this series was a bit of a let down, and I really hope that’s not true. I‘m very curious how

the cliff hanger and all the tension from the end

will be resolved and am really looking forward to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Slavery, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Deportation

There are hints at child sexual abuse (by a priest), experienced by the character Connor, but this is never made explicit or discussed in detail. There is attempted sexual assault. There is also a memory of Theta being assaulted by Roy, written in second person (as in, you the reader feel like this or that).

_haggis_'s review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Deportation

maddiereadswords's review against another edition

4.5

Great news!! Even after reading this book three times and fully knowing what's coming, the ending of this book can still make me cry. It's fine, I'm totally fine.

This doesn't have the same creepy, haunting vibes as the first two books, and the two parts feel a little more disconnected to the point where I almost wish it had been two separate books (mostly because the back half in particular is so fast-paced and plot heavy that it really loses that spooky edge, and also partly because I selfishly can never get enough of these characters.) This is easily the darkest and most "adult" installment so far, and while it doesn't hit quite as hard as the first two for me, it's still an absolute powerhouse of a book that drags me through the full spectrum of human emotion every time I read it. <3

Also shout out to Ling Chan for being so autistic that she accidentally bypassed internalized homophobia, and to Miriam Lubovitch and Viola Campbell for being such milfs that they keep adopting fucked up children like Pokemon despite being held captive. I love women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, and Deportation

rainbeauregard's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Deportation

This book is worth a read but it has a LOT of potentially triggering content

nytephoenyx's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

5.0

Loved this book. Love Libba Bray. Love all these characters but Sam Lloyd is my absolute favorite at the moment. This carried the series so well and upped the stakes and the focus on eugenics and having that angry conversation as well as radical protestors and just. It’s so good. History driven fantasy is wonderful. The ghost story aspects are wonderful. Just loved it. Loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Religious bigotry

Minor: Ableism, Gun violence, and Deportation

This book includes characters who are Black, Chinese, disabled, Jewish, and gay. There are minor characters who are LatinX, Black, and Jewish. Eugenics is a central conversation in the book. It is very strongly opposed.