Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Good Kings Bad Kings by Susan Nussbaum

8 reviews

bookbelle5_17's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective slow-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

4.75

Review of Good Kings, Bad Kings

By Susan Nussbaum

            In Good Kings, Bad Kings, Susan Nussbaum tells the story of a facility in Illinois for teens with disabilities, but not as well run as it seems to be implied. The story is told through multiple perspectives including both the teens living at the facility, those working there, and people who run the place.

            This story has both a sense of sadness, but also there is a feeling of hope.  Many of teens with these physical disabilities such having to use a wheel chair refuse to let being in wheel chair break their spirit.  A lot of them are still angry and frustrated but they still fight back and have humor.  A particular character, Yessenia Lopez, is quite sassy and acts tough, and just wants fair treatment.  She commits reckless behavior, but she maintains her bravery even when her recklessness gets her in trouble.  Teddy and Pierre are such sympathetic characters and the way they are treated is disgusting and horrible. This is a young adult book and I think that is seen through the writing.  Also, Nussbaum puts the reader in the head of the characters by often using bad language and a more slang way of speaking.  I like how we get both sides of this conflict through the character Michelle, who is a recruiter for the facility.  Her ignorance and belief in this system, refusing to see its flaws, is believable. We also see how someone might not understand or able to handle kids with disabilities, and how not all those people are those that don’t care, just that they don’t know what the right and respectful way to handle this.  They can make mistakes that could have dire consequences.  I still wished we had other disabilities covered like autism and ADHD, but I understand the author was focusing on characters having to use wheel chairs is what the author relates to the most.  This is a good book that deals with issues of disabilities that went under the radar.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

felicityebhaslin's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Blood, Excrement, and Car accident

Minor: Self harm

curious_oyster's review

dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Racism, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, and Racism

trippalli's review

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

A gripping and emotionally moving story about folks who have to live in assisted living. Specifically a range of kids and teenagers from 8:00 to early twenties... This tail really feels realistic and the kids voices are grounded and down to earth and the caregivers and people who work there. Some of them are also disabled are also just very real and lovable people who I wanted to read about more after the book ended. I want to know what they do next and there's also some people in this book who are just vile, but at least in this story a lot of them get what they deserve but not all of them. It's very realistic that way and this is the story I think would make great educational reading except there is also a vivid horrible rape And that's pretty unbearable to read about. But it does happen to these people who are institutionalized .... It's just terrifying

Overall though, the book has so many uplifting characters and compassionate characters and happy moments and moments of jubilation and accomplishment that I really did enjoy listening to the audiobook of this story

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Suicide

indydc's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

jaaay_reads's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-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

4.25

I had to read this book for my Intro to Disability Studies class. I'm glad I did because I likely would not have picked it up otherwise! This follows a cast of people that rarely get to tell their stories, young disabled people left in nursing homes. The author is disabled as well and she talks about how her involvement in activism inspired her to write this. 

I loved how each character had their own distinct voice. With the type of grammar and spelling used, each character was distinct. It took me a while to learn all of them but I did enjoy the array of characters. We see disabled rep we don't normally see such as disabled characters in romantic relationships and/or having sex. 

This book had a strong theme of discussing independence or autonomy for disabled people as well as whether individual actions or the system should be blamed for harm. I really appreciated the discourse and it gave me something to reflect on. Individuals can have responsibility but no lasting change will be made without fighting the system. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

flordemaga's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, and Transphobia