Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

18 reviews

korpney's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

tracey1981's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

A meticulously-researched well-written book about the disappearance and murder of a mother of ten that brings to light many aspects of The Troubles in Northern Ireland and key players in same. I was impressed by the empathy, nuance, and broad-mindedness of the author. In a story where it would be easy to paint a picture of pure heroes and evil villains, the author frames a much more complex narrative about what moves people to political violence. Quite an accomplishment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual violence

hannahquin's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Pedophilia

sjanke2's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

laurenfro22's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.5

Solid text about the memories of folks in the Troubles and the surrounding political, social, and economic landscapes. Made more interesting from my personal history in Belfast and current work at Boston College. The writing is clippy, keeping you moving back and forth in time from perspective to perspective so it doesn’t feel dense and slogging like some other books about this era. Certainly puts events and decisions into perspective laying out the information for readers to explore and understand better. 

“The bogs of Ireland are a landscape that remembers everything that has happened in and to it.” (265) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Alcohol, and War

laurenparham's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

2.75

I think this book was just not for me—it’s informative about some key events but does little to contextualize the IRA’s actions in response to the state violence that drove The Troubles. If the goal is to explore how people become radicalized to commit political violence, I think it’s important to present that trajectory with more than a few cursory mentions of the oppression that led to it. I understand that would be a massive undertaking but anything less feels irresponsible, especially given how uneducated most Americans are about The Troubles and how, for many, a book like this would be their first introduction. There is no justification for what happened to Jean McConville, and I don’t think there has to be any whataboutism regarding that—it was tragic and violent and caused lifelong suffering and devastation for her family. But I do think that the British government and the loyalists earn some portion of the blame as an oppressive and exploitative force that perpetuated violence and radicalization. I do wonder why many people are so squeamish at the idea of interpersonal or paramilitary violence but sanction the same actions carried out by people acting on behalf of the state as somehow more valid and justified and less violent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

exmareadastra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Vomit

horizonous's review

challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicide, and Excrement

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Racism