Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein

6 reviews

melliedm's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Excrement, Bullying, Child death, Grief, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Gore, Medical content, Misogyny, Abandonment, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Classism

grubrednuf's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This was heartachingly beautiful. It took a couple of chapters to get into it but so worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Gun violence, Excrement, Violence, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Alcoholism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence

stephanieswilley's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Child death, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Animal death, Pregnancy, Rape, Abandonment, and Suicide attempt

alexashabit's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Misogyny, Vomit, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Suicide, and Gun violence

lostcupofstars's review against another edition

2.5

“There is the silence that lingers and the silence that devours”

I’ve gone down the middle with rating this for these reasons:

-text that was dense and difficult to get into

-unlikeable characters

-depressing and heavy content with no silver linings

I thought this had some really solid storylines and they all tied in well together at the end. There were some really well written parts, and the plot was interesting to follow. 

I struggled with the text; there were a lot of uncommon words I came across that at first I would look up, but after a few pages I realised it was disturbing the flow of reading and also taking twice as long to get through a chapter. Once I stopped looking up words it was easier to get into the story. 

Ultimately, this was a depressing and heavy read and I was disappointed that there weren’t many references to ghosts at all. I don’t think I really liked any of the characters? Apart from Rookmin.

Also a lot of cw to be wary of: ableism, colourism, racism, death (including graphic violence towards people and animals) domestic abuse, sexism, sexual assault and murder amongst any others I may have forgotten. 

Not sure if I’d recommend it, simply because I came away feeling very heavy and that’s not what I like or want from my reads. If you like a challenging read that tackles some of the issues I’ve listed above then this might be the read for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Death, Child death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Ableism, Racism, and Sexism

carriepond's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Part historical fiction, part slow-burn thriller, Kevin Jared Hosein's Hungry Ghosts is immersive and beautifully written, gothic and lush. Set in 1940s Trinidad and Tobago, near the end of American occupation and British colonialism, Hungry Ghosts unfolds as two families collide-- the wealthy Changoors and the Saroops. Hansraj "Hans" Saroop, lives with his wife Sweta and son Krishna in the barracks, a multi-family dwelling with a shared latrine that is falling apart. Hans works as a farm laborer for the unstable and erratic Dalton Changoor, who lives with his wife, Marlee in a sprawling manor. At the outset of the novel, Dalton goes missing, leaving Marlee with no idea where he might be and only his three dogs to keep her company. When the dogs start turning up dead and Marlee begins receiving threatening notes, she offers Hans a handsome stipend to stay at the sprawling manor and serve as a watchman. Hans agrees, a decision that causes conflict with Sweta and Krishna and sets the stage for the plot that unfolds.
 
This book was great. Hosein created such complex, memorable characters and his writing was so beautiful in parts of this book that I was amazed he is a debut author. I got such a sense of place from his writing and was invested almost immediately, and although the plot unfolds slowly, it feels methodical-- and there is a sense of unease from the first page. I wasn't quite sure what had or would go wrong, but I knew immediately that something was going down, and I felt compelled to keep reading to find out what would happen. I also really loved how Hosein began each chapter focusing on a character's past to give us context for how they fit into the big picture of the story-- I thought it was really effective in creating those complex characters without bogging down the story.

I highly recommend this for lovers of historical fiction, but I also recommend it to anyone looking for a slow-burn mystery in a setting that we don't see as often (in historical fiction, especially). This was great, and I was glad I read it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Animal death, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Classism, Bullying, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit