Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

35 reviews

carlytenille's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Abandonment

anniesher23'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

4.75

This was heartbreaking and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time. It was truly devastating to see how

incarceration broke so many lives. I think my favorite part of this book was how close Roy’s experience came to turning him into the kind of person his wrongful conviction made him out to be, but how he recognized that and chose not to be that person in the end. That was incredibly powerful and well done. 

I’m not sure how I feel about Celestial’s character - I felt like she had so little agency in the end, but maybe the point is that what she went through changed her that deeply. I will prob have more to say about this book so TALK SOON! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Abortion

katreena's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

leahthebooklover's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense

3.5

An intimate look at how one marriage is affected by a miscarriage of justice and incarceration. Told from alternating points of view. It was a 4 star read for me until the ending, when all the conflict seemed to resolve a little too conveniently. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Infidelity, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Violence, Abortion, and Death of parent

Minor: Police brutality

moriahleigh's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, and Abortion

Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Racism, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

sar_willow's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Rounding up to a four. I should’ve slept, but I needed to finish this book more than I needed to dream. The circumstances probably happen over and over again across the US, mostly to Black men, but the outcome of being released felt less realistic. But that’s where the story pivots, and without it, there wouldn’t be a story to tell.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Infidelity, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

bookworm_ran's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, and Grief

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

ljtademy3's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.25

A very entertaining premise for a story. This book was a quick and easy read. The twists kept me wondering what would happen next, though I can’t say I was always itching to get back to the book. I enjoyed the drama of it all and feel there was a happy ending (or rather the happiest ending available given the context). I also appreciated the inclusion of how race and socio-economic status impacted the characters without that being the whole focus of the book. They were key factors in driving the plot, but i felt the book was ultimately about the relationships between the characters. Overall, I found the book engaging but not exciting/thrilling. It was thought-provoking though! I would recommend this book to a few people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism, Violence, Police brutality, and Classism

Minor: Rape and Abortion

lautodd_'s review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

5.0

Absolutely loved and loathed this book all at once. It frustrated me how much I couldn’t have an ending or characters I’d wanted or dreamed of wanting in the course of my reading— and that made it all the more brilliant and adventurous, in the most heartbreaking and embarrassing of ways. I find it clever when authors force their readers to relinquish control, when readers cannot satisfyingly imagine beyond what is in front of them, or replace and weave narratives or conclusions, away from the narrative presented, of their own personal ideas and fantasies. When I am met with the reality of relinquishing my own delusions of a story, submitting to the reality in front of me— so much like the actual lives we each live— I am most impressed and defeated all at once. 

From the three-pronged and rotating perspective of 3 different but fatefully connected and indelibly imperfect and spiteful characters, Tayari causes to life a story about people, race, justice, love, and family— and the complexities each function weaves into and throughout a Westernized plane of relating— so masterfully it leaves you sober and wanting.

One of the most favorite and most marking stories I’ve known to-date.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Police brutality

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence