Reviews tagging 'Racism'

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

8 reviews

fatvampcat's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism

celisabeth's review against another edition

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

4.0

New Moon is my favorite in the series, mostly because Edward isn’t around which means Bella is a little less silly.  Okay, and while I like Jacob more than Edward just because he’s less manipulative and Heathcliff-y, he also has a few warning bells going off around him. At least Jacob’s sweet, warm and cuddly and can turn into a big-ass wolf whenever he so chooses. Another thing that made me raise an eyebrow was a very simple little line: “Jacob hadn’t told me how to turn.” She’s on a motorbike and she has a crash because Jacob hasn’t told her how to turn. Has Bella never seen a bicycle before? How can you not know how to turn? It has handlebars, just like a normal bike. It has two wheels, just like a normal bike. You turn it, just like a normal bike! Anyways, the book is similar to the first one. High school life, excessive brooding, Bella being sad and sometimes mean, Bella swooning over vampires, Bella hearing voices (oh yes, she’s having full on aural hallucinations), Bella feeling sorry for herself, and so on. And shirtless, hunky werewolf boys – although they turn out better on screen, admittedly. Basically, New Moon is chewing gum for the eyes – and the brain. There were many references to Romeo and Juliet and they were blatantly obvious. (Feuding families, balcony, both commit suicide because their loved one has died, that's the general grasp of the plot.) New Moon is entertaining and oddly enticing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Racism and Sexism

ptitirodactyle's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Blood, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Minor: War

directorpurry's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.0

I actually thought I wouldn't like this one as much now that I've had some distance, but I was wrong. There's absolutely no drama like the third act of this damn book. Nothing like it. (Edit: April 3, 2021 - I FULLY stand by this statement.)

Update August 3, 2021: This book is atrocious in the best way possible and I love it.

The biggest issues I have with this book, besides the... insanity... of Edward and Bella, is the treatment of the Quileute Tribe.
They are a real group of people who live in Washington state. They have a real history and culture. They have real mythologies and religious practices. They have real governing structure.

Stephenie Meyer acknowledges none of that.
She used these people for her own silly book in deeply disrespectful and colonizing ways. She could have made up a tribe to take the role. Maybe it wouldn't have been great, but it would have been easy and simple. It wouldn't have the same flavor of absolute audacity that no one but white people can have when they grab their hands on other people's cultures.
It would have been so much less offensive if she had just made up her own tribe and culture.

As you can see by the short time it took me to read this, I genuinely, truly enjoyed my reading experience. Most of the Twilight series has this wonderful perfect storm of compelling plot, ridiculous characters, and just-bad-enough dialogue to make them obsessively readable and enjoyable, even with their avalanches of flaws. But these books have some genuine causes for concern within them that definitely gets worse as they go along.

Additionally, besides my own bias against love triangles (I pick my favorite and I STICK TO HIM, DAMMIT. That's what always happens. No author can trick me into switching different bois.) Bella is both too old for Jacob (She is 18, he is 16; while I didn't see anything wrong with that at 12, at 24 I have some legitimate concerns.) and she's clearly not interested in him romantically. She sees him as a security blanket, not a boyfriend. Her words, "a safe harbor," not a romantic interest.
Jacob might be a better person than Edward, but he's not The One. SpoilerBut NO I won't talk about demon spawn baby. Everything about Breaking Dawn is horrible and I hate it. >:[

Edit March 3, 2021 - Also forgot, Aro is so aggressively queer-coded lol. It's not the most offensive take I've seen, though. And also not the most offensive thing in this book either! So, y'know...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Murder

merah's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Racism, Torture, and Violence

luluslittlelibrary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, and Suicide attempt

jjjreads's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

Terrible; zero of ten do not recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Cannibalism

caregorman's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

FUCKING jacob and edward can suck a dick, team alice for life...i think it gets more problematic w each book. The state of bella, the forgiveness, the weird protectiveness, i cannot take it. That being said, fun moments of bella doing wack shit and jacob being sweet before U KNOW WHAT happens 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, and Suicide