Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.

139 reviews

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

I just hope this book makes enough white readers feel enough anger and shame to contact our electeds about reparations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Incest, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Vomit, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Religious trauma, Environmental degradation

noahsingh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

Mixed feelings about this one! Some aspects of the book weren't developed enough (imho) and I felt a bit let down by the ending but there were lots of aspects I did enjoy., including the writing itself and the main characters of Samuel and Kayode.
Pros: 
-Everyone has already said this but yeah obviously the writing is really good. 
- Enjoyed that we get a perspective chapter from almost every enslaved character. Especially enjoyed Maggie and Sarah's perspectives. 
-Samuel and Kayodes relationship is beautifully written. Its the first book I've read set during the transatlantic slave trade with focuses on queer black characters, and it was really interesting to read a perspective on that.
-I loved loved loved the King Asuka chapters, my only complaint there is that I wish there had been a lot more of that narrative in general. Same for Sarah's narrative. The exploration of black queerness and transness as not yet warped by slavery and colonialism is definitely one of the strongest aspects of this book to me. 
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And of course, white people being killed by the people they enslaved is always V satisfying, Samuel killing Timothy was great 10/10

Cons:
-Not enough time spent with each characters, and I didn't see the need for Paul's chapters being so long. 
-I personally don't enjoy too much description/poetic language which gets in the way of the actual narrative, which I think this book suffered from a bit. Its all very well-written but I think some of it could have definitely been cut down. But this is a personal bias of mine obvy. 
-Some elements of the book were underdeveloped, for example the Beulah/Be Auntie connection, the Seven/Vs the Seven aunts, etc 
-So so so much (trigger warning) rape. I understand it's historically accurate to the enslavement of black individuals in America but the explicitness and repeated graphic descriptions seemed unnecessary and kinda excessive for me. For example,

having both Ruth and Timothy assault Samuel seemed like way too much. Ruths assault of Samuel didn't add anything to the story and could have easily either been removed or referred to rather than graphically described.

 

-A lot of the characters don't get a conclusive ending, of course that's hard to do when most of the characters are enslaved individuals and escape from slavery was practically impossible.

  However we never have any idea what happens to Adam, we leave Beulah/Be Aunties story the moment Beulah actually takes control (which felt like a cop-out to me), and I didnt see the need for Samuel to lead Kayode away from the plantation as a ghost, just for Kayode to die almost immediately anyway. And of course what happens to Essie, Puah, Maggie etc is all left up in the air.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism, Deadnaming, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

redrosieroses's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

Beautiful and important book. Honestly the best book I have ever read. I encourage everyone to read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Murder, and Colonisation

leah_alexandra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

4.0

This is the kind of book that is always described as beautiful and heartbreaking, but that’s a fitting description. The Prophets differs from other narratives of enslavement that I’ve read, and I really appreciated the efforts here to do something different. I enjoyed the storytelling from multiple perspectives and the complexity of the characters. The writing style was lyrical to the degree that it sometimes tops over into being difficult to follow. Well worth a read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Death, Blood, and Excrement

rideauriverreads's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

lisztaffe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

emzireads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

bruhbruh's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Deportation

antidietleah's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

aweekinthelife's review

challenging emotional slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

mostly vibe-driven book with poetic language and beautifully created characters. i really appreciated the various perspectives and getting to hear from the different characters, learning a little more of their own background as well as their internal motivations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Rape, and Slavery