Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Perish by LaToya Watkins

17 reviews

lfran13's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Abortion

amholt11's review

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Abortion

lifewithjoce's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

opalescenttreeshark's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

d0505'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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying and Child abuse

campbelle177's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Suicide

literaryintersections's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.5

I'm not quite sure how to rate this honestly. This book is heartbreaking. It's unbelievably difficult to read but the overall point of the story is so important. Hurt people hurt people. As Mariame Kaba says "No one enters violence for the first time by committing it." All of the people in this book are hurt, they are all violated. They all experience hurt beyond belief. And many of them use the hurt that they experienced to hurt others. Violence doesn't just come out of nowhere. And in this book the violence comes from those we trust most; those who should never hurt us. It comes from fathers, mothers, brothers, grandmothers.

One woman is truly violated as a child, and becomes pregnant from that rape. When she tries to abort it, she hears a voice say "bear it or perish yourself" and in order to save herself, she decides to keep the child, setting off a long line of generational trauma. And the trauma isn't just physical violence. It's the trauma felt and experiences when secrets are kept. When children are chosen over other children: loved differently or not at all. Helen Jean then passes this violence and trauma onto her 4 children, who all pass it along onto their children in various ways. Until Helen Jean's grandchildren realize that they need to do whatever they can to stop this cycle of violence. 

I am honestly tearing up just writing this review because it is truly a devastating book. But it made me think a lot about the little and big violences that we experience everyday from our parents, families, grandparents. And how those traumas can be passed on in quite devastating ways. "No one enters violence for the first time by committing it". It's hard not to fault Helen Jean for her various actions and mistakes. But she experienced so much violence. She was so hurt. And hurt people HURT people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism and Abortion