Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades

5 reviews

axel_p's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Child abuse, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Death, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Addiction, Body shaming, Cancer, Colonisation, Deportation, Drug abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Violence, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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? No

4.0

this was such a beautiful and raw portrayal of what it’s like to be a brown girl. i saw so many of my own struggles and experiences in this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Child death, Cursing, Alcohol, Death, Racism, Sexism, Grief, and Police brutality

mmccombs's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

What an interesting concept! This is a character driven novel, though the character is a chorus of voices, brown girls who are friends from childhood. We follow their whole lives, which I felt was interesting and complex. In some ways it lacked depth for me and was quite repetitive, but the writing here is poetic and enchanting. The structure of this was very clever, it addresses both the universal experiences of brown women in the US in addition to the ways in which that experience is also incredibly diverse and varied. I think this will be one I stew on for a bit and may reassess with time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Police brutality

empeeeeee's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

Brown Girls is transportive, beautiful, enjoyable, a musical and fast-paced read. It's all feeling and rhythm. As a brown girl, as a Pilipina with immigrant parents, even though my context was/is in some ways very different, there were so many moments where my heart sang and ached (sometimes my heart sang to Aaliyah and Mariah. :)). I felt seen in a way I don't often get in novels, even as the book spoke to so many different kinds of brown girls, brown lives.

I think its form and concept is a true feat. That balance of the collective "we" voice with just enough specificity to still be real and personal rather than theoretical; the ooze of place and senses and emotion in a wide swath; the rhythm, the deft control of how the reader runs alongside pace then slows down, or turns focus one way, then the other... 

I found some of the prose itself to be cliché, and some moments to feel a bit forced,

Spoiler

including the inclusion of COVID-19 as another reviewer mentioned and the last chapter in general,

which is why I didn't give this a higher rating myself.

I read this in about two days! If you're the type, I think it would be a great one to read in one sitting and just let wash over you.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Racism, Sexual harassment, Abortion, and Grief

Minor: Domestic abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Self harm, and Suicide

bekkah3's review

challenging emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Abortion, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence