Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

6 reviews

abigail_lo's review against another edition

dark tense 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? Yes

2.75

it really was a solid 3 or 3.5 until the last few pages. i could feel how meticulously planned this book’s plot was — if anything, it was almost too convoluted to follow. my critique of the first 90% of the book is that i had to spend quite a bit of my brain cells just figuring out the timeline, which means i couldn’t get invested in the characters. but for the last bit, the plot (and specifically the mechanics) just made no sense to me. the book presents itself as a harder sci-fi book, but then it completely glosses over any explanation of the ending? i get the poeticism of it and everything coming full circle, but like — i’m still a bit annoyed that after wracking my brain over this plot for 300+ pages, it doesn’t even make sense in the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Police brutality, and War

Moderate: Xenophobia

picotly's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Fantastic anti-war novel with on-the-edge-of-your-seat time travel plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Torture, Police brutality, and War

Moderate: Genocide, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child death

Tough read but doesn't feel gratuitous.

nittiotvaan's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Torture, Police brutality, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pandemic/Epidemic

anxiousnachos's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

This was a really cool concept: sci-fi war between Mars and corporations on Earth with soldiers who are turned into light to beam them across the galaxy, but sometimes that results in them experiencing the war differently. It raised such interesting questions around culpability in war, power structures, and how people can change cycles of violence. But the writing was a little detached for me and so I didn’t feel very strongly about any of the characters. But very cool premise! 

Content warnings: extreme and graphic depictions of war (inc use of both biological and chemical weapons), torture, blood/gore, violence (inc against civilians and children), death

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and War

grawlix's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Vomit and Police brutality

Moderate: Body horror and Gore

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

spoth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Medical content