Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Blood & Sugar

Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Blood & Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

20 reviews

sandysmith's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious reflective 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

It's an excellent if harrowing read. Historical fiction at its finest concentrating on the murder of Tad Archer and his friend Captain Henry (Harry) Corsham investigating what happened. The murder whilst gripping was a side story to the slave trade and the goings on of the 18th century. Very evocative, brilliantly written, and you could smell the unpleasant smells of London and particularly the slave ships in Deptford. Bringing into focus the bribery and corruption of the time at all levels of society. Racism, child abuse, classism and homophobia are explored. There are particularly unpleasant characters, with very few nicer characters that made you back Harry throughout his exploration of the murder of his friend. It was interesting, and in particular, the British involvement of the slave trade is laid unpleasantly bare. It packs its punches. Superbly researched and written, an investigation of a murder not for the faint-hearted. Excellent stuff

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snakeling's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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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leahhhtaylor's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

i really hoped this book would be better after reading square of sevens. i feel it sort of got lost in the middle and then came out with a sort of undercooked ending. but i’ll give her other book a read to determine if this was just an unfortunate flop! and maybe i just should write off all books using the hard r for my own sake

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alexrafinski's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative sad fast-paced

4.25

This is a fast-paced whodunnit with quite a convoluted plot (or plots really) set in the late 18th century. Slavery features heavily and the author doesn't shy away from giving full details of the horrible lives they led and the things that white people did to them. In fact the book is full of people doing nasty things (not just white on black). A bit too over-dramatic for me (e.g. big storm coincides with the denouement near the end).

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heatherymakes's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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ronanmcd's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

An exciting, tense look at a reproduction of the massacre that turned public opinion in the UK against slavery. It does a good job of looking at the various viewpoints around the trade and the massive trauma it induced.
Use of the n-word by the less savoury characters, and the drawing a line on racism at the time of abolition aside, the book tells a good story but very much from a white saviour viewpoint. That the hero is a man of the crown underpins this. Nonetheless, it's very entertaining, evocative and in its way informative.

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