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clare072's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Rape, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation
kanj1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Blood
tinyjude's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation
strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Cannibalism
mixtercharlie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
lpdx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer and Medical content
salemander's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting
cookiecat73's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Minor: Racial slurs, Slavery, and Excrement
kirtreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The characters do feel a little flat though. They aren’t fleshed out totally and the main character makes some choices that felt a little out of character. It isn’t enough that you are totally taken out of the story but it does make you pause a second.
Overall it is a really good book, and you won’t go wrong reading it!
Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
martinatan's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Some works of media that I felt this story lives in kinship with:
- Beloved by Toni Morrison, for its part-tender, part-visceral prose and handling of generational trauma and haunting
- The art of Firelei Baez and Wangechi Mutu, for their beautiful blend of human and inhuman, exploring symbiotic and antagonistic relationships between humans and the natural world
- Jordan Peele’s film Nope, in that it provides a uniquely Black perspective on the American attraction to spectacle and exploitation, and for the horror/sci-fi elements
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, for themes of hindsight and memory of an institution after you’ve escaped it
Of course, this is not to say that Sorrowland borrows too much from other works—on the contrary, it is a masterpiece of its own that will make you think differently not just about our country’s history of medical exploitation of Black people, but also the boundaries between different genres, the capabilities of the body under immense pressure, and our relationship to nature and society.
I would be so excited to analyze this book in a university setting and I hope it can be regarded as a rich and provocative text for a variety of disciplines: Race and Colonialism Studies, Gender and Sexuality, History, Creative Fiction, etc.
Graphic: Body horror and Sexual content
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation