Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy by Talia Lavin

3 reviews

klsreads's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

3.5

There was a lot I really liked about this book. The scary look into far-right infiltrative journalism really put me on edge. Lavin is incredibly brave and principled. However, much of this book read like a collection of well-written journal articles. The overall story lacked cohesiveness. I enjoyed each section independently ("We Keep Us Safe" was a standout), but don't go into this expecting a deep dive into the path of online radicalism. It's good as a more intro-level text of vignettes. Lavin's writing is strong, personal, and emotional, though I found it repetitive (and I spent a fair amount of time looking up words). 3.5 stars.

"To those who find themselves uncomfortable with the operation of antifascists outside the comfortable bounds of institutions and, at times, the law, I remind you that the French partisans of World War II were acting illegally, while the Einsatzgruppen had the full support of German law. We tend to like our noble lawbreakers to be comfortably in the past, where time and death have sanitized them into heroes, and to suffer those who struggle against injustice in the present only grudgingly, if at all."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Child death and Pandemic/Epidemic

collins1129's review

dark informative fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

ehmannky's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

4.75

 I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long while. Lavin documents the various ways in which white supremacy has become a global movement online and the ways in which tech companies such as YouTube and Twitter are complicit in that. She follows the history of white supremacy, tangled with antisemitism, and how it is fed by misogyny, homophobia, and a deep-seeded racial hatred towards anyone who isn't a very specific kind of white person. I felt a deep respect for Lavin's willingness to go undercover and submerge herself in the rampant abuse in order to show everyone what this culture is and why it's so dangerous to ignore it and allow it to grow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, and Mass/school shootings