Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye

12 reviews

chemeducator's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault and Transphobia

meelmeman's review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Very slow up until the last 80% which was plot driven in a way that made me uncomfortable and insulted. Reveals around character’s gender identities and sexualities are PURELY for plot points and are this minimized into fun little reveals. The main character, Alice, is a white woman proxy of the author (I guess?) and she should be ashamed.

The lynching at the end of one of the minor characters is handled in the most blasé, disgusting way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia

lr205's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense

4.0

Set in early 1900’s Harlem with the mafia, and later in Oregon where the KKK is active. Too much cursing  for me. A surprising mystery though. Well written. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jennifermreads's review against another edition

In my “reading from shelf” goal, I thought for sure this one would be a winner for me: set in 1920s Portland (in my new home state of Oregon), mobsters, found family, racial tension, dual timeline. When I saw that both Kirkus and Library Journal gave it starred-reviews, I thought I was safe and this book would not be a victim of my “I’m in a reading funk” era.

Alas, I made it to page 108 and just could not find a comfortable rhythm as I bounced from present day and the MC’s previous life in Harlem. I never connected with the language and manner of storytelling. I struggled keeping the characters straight in my head—and there were a lot of characters. But ultimately, because of the number of characters, there were so many storylines and I was overly preoccupied wondering which one of the plot points would be the main one. With my semi-slump of so many hits-then-misses, I am sad this is added to the “miss” side of the equation. But, by page 108, there should be some focus. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Animal cruelty

book_gremlin42's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

constancepoplos's review

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Faye doesn’t shy away from making the reader feel uncomfortable. But that’s the point. She explores racism, sexism, homophobia in a way that feel personal and real. Gripping story following 2 timelines that meet up. Docked her a few points because the writing style with constant “rat-a-tat” etc. feels slightly juvenile and sometimes it’s a bit difficult to follow since Alice is more often than not called Nobody throughout. Overall would recommend this book as a thought provoking read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Deadnaming, Transphobia, and Outing

lilmollyjo0301's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Racial slurs, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Sexual assault

quasinaut's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful slow-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? Yes

4.25

Slow to start and heavy on the 20s slang, but the split stories -- 1910s Harlem with the Mafia and 1920s Portland with the KKK -- are well-developed and ultimately intertwined.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Transphobia, and Blood

Minor: Abortion

mandkips's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Hate crime, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

Minor: Abortion

alannah_irwin's review

hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Drug use, Racism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder