Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Augustown by Kei Miller

6 reviews

bessadams's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Blood and Police brutality

kathyreadsalot's review against another edition

challenging funny sad 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

3.75

I liked this but did not love it. I enjoyed it because its the sort of book I do not read often, but you can tell it was a novel written by a poet. Almost reads like literary fiction but not quite. There are some parts I felt could have been shorter or cut and others I wanted to be longer. There was also some gory or gratuitous descriptions that I think could have been left out, especially towards the end. I would maybe be interested in some of the authors poetry next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, and Classism

sydneyjn's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

I'm so glad I found Kei Miller.  I'm not generally a fan of poetry, but a poetic novel?  Yes please.  This could only have been set in Jamaica.  While the overarching story is a race/class conflict, it's told through the day to day lives of the people it impacts.  I listened to the audio book, and Dona Croll was a stunning narrator.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Classism

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, and Suicide

Minor: Abortion

hereforthefunofit's review against another edition

challenging sad tense 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? No

4.75

i want to get a place in my writing where i can tell the reader what is to happen and it still be impactful.

it is already a sad story. but then, there are so extra many pieces that just slot into place and make the book all the more heartbreaking. it jus come dung pan mi an a cyaan tek it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Violence, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit

chattie_the_mad_chatter's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

This book is a different genre to what I usually read. It felt like folklore, local history to a country and culture I know nothing about, so I appreciate being able to learn and be let in through reading this.
I enjoyed the story craft, through storytelling and weaving in and out of past and present and through different characters. There is a main plot point that holds them together, but if you enjoy a linear story or a strong connection to a protagonist this may not be for you. I felt that Augstown was our main protagonist and the different characters the layers of history and lives that make it who it is. All the individual human characters felt fully realised, but we moved fluidly through them getting segments of their lives. I am a reader that likes to fully immerse in a character, so I did not get that emotionsl connection I usually want with the characters. 
But that was not the story's purpose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Abortion, and Classism

Minor: Sexual harassment

kaneebli's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, and Classism

Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Excrement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis