Reviews tagging 'Racism'

A Planet for Rent by Yoss

3 reviews

mar's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

i'm not entirely sure how i feel abt this book. 
on one hand this is an outstanding case of sci-fi as social critique. the biting commentary on the tourism industry, colonialism and capitalism - the very clear allegory to the treatment of Cuba and other third-world countries by the West - is really strong, honest and unflinching. still, its brutality and obsceneness make for a difficult and disturbing read; a lot of it is clearly a purposeful choice, yes, but there were still times when it felt gratuitous, and others when i found it hard to tell just how much of the unpleasant shitty parts was by design and how much might've been the author's prejudices bleeding through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Suicide, and Trafficking

innerweststreetlibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

3.0

This is a challenging collection of short stories. Some are quite horrific. 
I found the parallels between this post-alien contact earth and Cuba quite fascinating, and that is what drove me to finish. 
The things I didn’t like, were the sloppy editing (so many typos), the use of the term “social worker” to describe sex workers, and the really strong sexist tone throughout the book that really dates it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

bonfeld's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

A Planet for Rent is a very straight forward critique of capitalism and life in Cuba under the Castro regime through the metaphor of Earth being colonized by extraterrestrial life. Made up of 7 chapter pairs - each with a short 3-4 page mini chapter and then a 20-30 page short story detailing the experience of a different human, all of which contain references to other characters/stories in a way that connects them all with out being intertwined with each other. It's a thoughtful book that brings issues of colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism to the forefront, specifically looking at the extent people (humans) will go to survive/feel like they have control over their lives. Its message is clear, even if the content itself is unfamiliar. The writing style of each story is very different, which can be a bit jarring, especially since the book is short - you barely have time to get used to it before it's over. A good book for people who like experimental writing, heavy description/internal dialogue type lens. Definitely a book that could use a second read.

My main disappointment was in the last chapter. I was hoping for this last chapter to tie the previous 6 together in some cohesive way. Instead it felt disconnected from the rest and also seemed kind of messed up to present

the sexualization of a 10-year old girl as a coming of age moment for shock value.

The purpose of this could definitely been achieved differently.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Rape

Contains vivid descriptions of body mutilation (by the character themself, but not in a self harm/mental health context) in one chapter. Contains sexualization of minors.