Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

Der Schattenkönig by Maaza Mengiste

20 reviews

margauxhdz's review against another edition

I think that this story is an interresting one for sure but the structure and narration were all over the place which made it diffucult for me to really get into it. I got to a point where despite being curious about the rest of the story, I wasn't interrested enough to finsih the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Rape, Torture, and Antisemitism

laura_storyteller's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Antisemitism

daisymaytwizell's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

I listened to the audiobook of this, and while that helped me as a white person learn how to pronounce the names/places, I do think that with all the shifts in time and perspective it would be a much easier read with a physical copy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual violence

Mengiste has a fantastic balance between communicating the horrors of war, without making the descriptions gratuitous.

natalieabigail's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Antisemitism

sarrasegway's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-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: Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Excrement, and Antisemitism

brgntteva's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, and Antisemitism

gabybeckley's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Antisemitism

alicerossi's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

Wonderful prose. Describes a period of history and an episode of colonialism that is often overlooked from the perspective of women, which is often not represented in war.  A very important and very beautiful book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, and Grief

curatoriallyyours's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The positives: I learnt a lot from reading this book, even though it is a work of fiction, about Ethiopia and the Italian invasion under Mussolini. I intend to read some non-fiction on this topic as a result of reading this story. 

The negatives: Though I pitied the main character for all she endured, I did not warm to her. The author's style was also quite off-putting and made it hard for me to sink into the narrative until well into the book. If I hadn't been reading this as the final book in a reading challenge (with only a few days to go) I'd probably have abandoned it. The author's refusal to use speech marks to denote speech baffled me and made me resentful for the re-reading I needed to do every time I realised someone had started speaking without the usual indication that this was the case. I don't care to read any more from this author as a result. 

I feel that the story itself was worthwhile but the author's style really bothered me throughout the book and stopped me from ever truly being enveloped in the narrative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, and Medical trauma

Minor: Drug use and Antisemitism

emilistevenson's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Child death