Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

26 reviews

martinatan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

An incredibly crafted modern gothic story. This blended important topics and radical themes that I have been captivated by for a long time, and to see them captured in a blend of the gothic, speculative fiction, and Afrofuturist genres is absolutely breathtaking. The exploration of queer love and flawed family is a powerful throughline that really shines in a world where the protagonist could easily give in to the sheer despair of a heartless culture.

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.

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Content Warnings

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

city_girl_writer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Sexual violence

loristoudenmier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

• 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

4.75

GOD i did NOT heed the trigger warnings and I honestly don't even have an excuse like I knew this was a horror novel and still picked it up. don't make my mistake and please be safe. Anyway this BOOK!!!! /pos
absolute fucking masterpiece

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Rape, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Cancer, Infertility, Racial slurs, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

graphic: cult

atalea's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Murder, and Pregnancy

ecn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

breeezzy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism and Slavery

kathleencoughlin's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No

4.5

Sorrowland is very much on-brand for Rivers Solomon. They have a talent for using speculative fiction to examine different aspects of black history; this time it's US military and medical experimentation on black bodies. Solomon does not shy away from the depictions of violence and suffering but does not veer off into the territory of torture porn. I thought the premise of the book was so interesting, and while I was a bit confused at the beginning, I learned what was going on as Verne did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Racism, Sexism, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

skudiklier's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

I don't really like horror, so I was really hesitant going into this book, and only read it for a book club. But I'm glad I did; though it was definitely dark and at times upsetting, it was also really good. I was fascinated by what was happening, and some of the twists really got me. This is the second book I've read by this author and I definitely think I'll look into their other work. 

Also, vague spoilers for the ending, but

I was pleasantly surprised by how happy the ending was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

Minor: Racial slurs and Suicide

susanknights's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Colonisation