Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Night. Sleep. Death. the Stars. by Joyce Carol Oates

4 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I can’t quite figure what I read in this book. It certainly disappointed me in multiple ways. I loved Mudwoman so much that I’ve been hoping to find another of those author’s that was equally as compelling. I keep trying and failing. I thought this one was going to be close, but just when I thought it was going to be good, it dropped into a chasm that made me want to DNF it. I kind of wish I had. It was a long book to slog through with very little payoff. And the characters were all disgusting aside from the doctor at the very beginning - for him, I only feel pity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ashfantastic98's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Homophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

lesbrarycard's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

3.5

despite being an 800-page book, this story kept me decently engrossed and i enjoyed the saga it took me through. this is a fantastic view at grief and i feel like it came to me at the perfect point in time. however, it tries to tackle some pretty huge topics of race and police brutality that i felt fell short. the characters are judgemental, flawed, and often express racist ideals, but i couldn't tell if they were ever learning from their mistakes or from the instances of brutality that they faced. especially considering that this is a white family dealing with police brutality, i didn't feel like the characters ever truly understood their point of priviledge, and the story read like it was written by a white author. overall it's a compelling story - i just wished that the characters learned a little more among an 800 page monster of a book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Police brutality

ukki's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Police brutality, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Infidelity and Sexism