Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf

17 reviews

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

fast-paced

5.0

Once again, Hanna Alkaf manages to make me cry and make me love her book. Y'all, representation really does matter (I'm of Indonesian descent and can really connect with her books and I think that's why they hit a little harder than other authors' writing).
This is a difficult story to read from our main character, Melati, struggling with her mental health to her and people she knows suffering and struggling to survive a blood filled week of violence. Although not super graphic, this story illustrates the horrors of that week in Kuala Lumpur with some detail. Alkaf also illustrates OCD pretty well especially with how mental illness is viewed in many SE Asian communities. 
Def read the author's trigger/content warnings at the beginning of the book or read reviews detailing trigger/content warnings because, although it is YA, there are a lot of heavy topics and scenes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

phineasjames's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and War

rebeccashortcake's review against another edition

inspiring reflective sad 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? No

5.0

Loved this book as a diasporic Malaysian Chinese person brought up in the US. My parents and family friends have spoken in passing about the race riots, but I didn't know the extent of how violent it was until reading this book. Even though it is historical fiction, it has given me more tools to ask my family about what happened during the 60s.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

The subject of the Malaysian race riots is a violent topic including death and murder.

twdlover's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, and Violence

maple_dove's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Favorite Quotes:

Adults rarely like being told that they don't have all the answers, or worse still, that the answers they do have are all the wrong ones.

If you want to start an explosion, you light a match in the dynamite factory.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Misogyny, and Excrement

paperquilt's review against another edition

emotional informative 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lilly_anne's review

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

danajoy's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

albanana's review against another edition

emotional informative tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Islamophobia, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail