Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

21 reviews

rainbowbrarian's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism

cecereads__'s review against another edition

3.5

What a surprising read. I don’t know what I was expecting really, but I kept going “oh, right” when sth happened that showed how it’s set in the present rather than a hundred plus years ago. I guess that’s what I expected from the premise surrounding the woods. Idk.
You as the reader go through a very interesting sort of journey with Vern, and I found that very valuable and it was one of those things where letting go of a book takes a little effort, if that makes sense. 
I became more and more intrigued by this story, and I enjoyed the insertion of facts about reality woven into the narration (indirectly) to build the tension and highlight the layers to it.
There was cultish/religious behaviour and a “manhunt” and metamorphosis/magical realism as well as  determination and friendships and deceit and love and betrayal. I guess I’d say it had historical weight in a modern setting. (And I hope that makes sense at least to those who’ve read it too).

I loved the learning to read part, the portrayal of Vern’s realistic self-reflections on motherhood, etc. Plus the layers to Vern and Gogo getting and growing together, and most of all Vern’s love of Lucy was a fave part to me 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Racism, Rape, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

whimsylee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

An incredible and nuanced look at institutional racism, white supremacy, difference/othering,  and being a queer black mother in the USA. Rivers Solomon is an amazing writer. The sci-fi elements of this story perfectly complement the themes and the author’s overall message. I fell in love with so many of these deeply human characters and my heart was ripped out over and over again. I highly recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, Lesbophobia, and Colonisation

nonidude's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Genocide, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

ash_ton's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

i read this for the LGBTQIA+ book club i'm a part of! i don't normally gravitate towards science fiction so it's always nice to be pleasantly surprised. 
i was not expecting the turn the book took. like, at all. wild

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Cultural appropriation

maksipad's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

This book was incredible. Gruesome in exactly the way it was intended. I will be thinking about Solomon’s commentary on community, queerness, and the violent legacy of whiteness for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

I have never read a book like this. I have been wanting to get into more eerie books and this totally scratched that itch for me. If you are a fan of spooky but not horror this is definitely for you. There is a lot of gore and body horror stuff that left me thoroughly unsettled. It reminded me of “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka. The whole story was dark and brooding with little flecks of hope and the writing made the characters and setting come to life. 

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Content Warnings

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

cookiecat73's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

This was a very raw, very honest book that absolutley did not shy away from tough topics. I loved the characters. The first 3/4 were amazing, but unfortunately the last quarter of the book went in a direction that was much less of my thing and I enjoyed it a lot less. Overall though, very good.

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Content Warnings

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

strange_little_ranger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

dazzle_spider_reader_1212's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Cannibalism