Reviews tagging 'Death'

Glory: A Novel by NoViolet Bulawayo

20 reviews

foreverinastory's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Glory is an allegory of Animal Farm set in the historical background of the Zimbabwe revolution (1980s-2019). We follow various animals as they fills roles of historical figures and we see how dictatorship follows the patterns laid out in Orwell's fictional piece.

This was a very compelling and emotional story. I loved the way repetition and humor were used as tools in the narrative. The audiobook narrator (Chipo Chung) was absolutely incredible and brought a rhythm to the story with the way they repeated words with various intonations.

Bulawayo did a beautiful job of crafting this intricate historical fiction. I am glad I read this immediately following Animal Farm. Such an interesting juxtaposition. There were so many characters followed in this story, but I was most invested in Destiny's and my heart felt all the emotions. *insert tears*

Rep: All Zimbabwean cast.

CWs: Violence, genocide, war, rape, police brutality, murder, colonisation, death, gun violence, grief, misogyny, sexual assault, torture, blood, classism, sexual violence, religious bigotry, sexism, injury/injury detail, child death, gore, physical abuse, racism. Moderate: suicide (off-page action, on-page mention), xenophobia, mass shooting, death of parent, animal death, body horror, cursing, homophobia/homomisia, slavery, panic attacks, fire/fire injury, vomit. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, and War

georgiarybanks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, Blood, and War

orla_h's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and War

differentsisters's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

 I see what the author was trying to do. Once I got use to the inclusion of Zimbabwean dialect, the book was readable. What became tiring was the heavy heavy use of repetition (a whole page of just the word take). I could see why some uses of repetition was used, but it became tiresome and felt like an editor needed to cut at least a hundred pages of repetition. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Homophobia

wy_woman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Police brutality

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and War

qqjj's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jayisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

3.75

I really enjoyed Bulawayo’s previous novel, We Need New Names, and had high expectations for Glory. She certainly delivered with unique storytelling (I actually read the book alongside the audiobook, which really made a difference) and interesting characters. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as taken to the plot as I thought I would be, mostly due to pacing and repetitiveness. However, this book is clever, especially the way she expanded on George Orwell’s Animal Farm to satirize the Zimbabwean coup d’état in 2017, as well as to provide other commentary on other topics such as colonialism and racism. On that note, I wish I knew more about this to further appreciate what Bulawayo wrote, though I certainly could see elements of this book taking place in other oppressive countries. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, and War

Minor: Gore

hilaryreadsbooks's review against another edition

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kayschwe's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War