Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

33 reviews

trying_ceratops's review

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a fun book! It feels like a good ole detective story with some magic throne in. If you like the Dresden series, you’ll likely enjoy this. Some of the tech is a bit dated and women are objectified fairly often (main reason for docking a star), but they are often portrayed as powerful/smart/best at what they do. I enjoyed the story and was genuinely surprised by the ending, in a good way. Will continue reading the series. 

The narration was done well in the audiobook. The male voice actor handled the many voices well and the female characters didn’t sound falsetto nor overly high pitched

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Classism

adaora_ble's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

1.75

The misogyny was the main deterrent and I'm not sure why I pushed through to finish it because it sealed the deal on not wanting to continue the series in the future.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lucas_mannion's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Really enjoyed this. Dialogue and protagonist's perspective were funny without trying too hard. Interesting plot, didn't take itself too seriously. Struggled to follow some parts and took me a while to get through but that may just be my own attention problems. Main negative is that all of the female characters were sexualised by the protagonist. Could have been a conscious choice to show his immaturity, but was just a bit tasteless in my opinion. Would like to read more of this series but hope that the female characters are more developed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Vomit, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

selimhannah's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

popsicleplease's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Racism and Xenophobia

a_k_lennard's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

I love the interesting plot lines and the characters. I think Aaronovitch’s writing style is reminiscent of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams in its playful and sarcastic manner. However, Aaronovitch’s protagonist is a black guy, Peter Grant, and you can tell that Aaronovitch doesn’t write from personal experience of being a black man (he’s white). This leaves Peter Grant feeling like a caricature rather than a real person (this does get better as the books go on). I also don’t particularly enjoy the way women are referred to in this book — if a woman is mentioned, it is all about sexualising her, especially the young black women (specifically Beverley) because of course!
I do think the author had some constructive feedback (maybe after the second book) because they are getting less and less offensive which can only be a good thing. Who knew a middle aged man could learn that some people are more than their tits?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Misogyny

Moderate: Racism

innocuus's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative 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? No

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Vomit

bronzeageholly's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

3.5

In general, the book has a very interesting concept. I went into it with no clue what the plot would be like and I was intrigued and then hooked very quickly by the great pace and immersive scene setting.

The main character isn’t exactly cool or exceptional and I kind of like that everything mystical or brilliant just happens around him and he stumbles through it all. He doesn’t seem too fazed by much of the magic or even his own abilities (which is perhaps a point missed), but despite this he is very inquisitive about the mechanics of it which is great for a main character and I appreciate the effort in that side of the world building. 

What I really didn’t like, though, is that the guy is casually creepy all the time about women’s bodies - sexualising and oogling is pretty much always his immediate thought when he meets a woman. Hints that other characters are aware and critical of his creepiness did make it bearable, however. I slowly realised he’s a magical touch-starved idiot, a lover a dreamer a fighter a loser, and I have a soft spot for those kinds of characters.

why are you, a cop on the job trying to save all of london from horrifying supernatural terror, primarily concerned with hiding an erection you got from seeing a lady in a vest on the tube 🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨

last 5 mins of the book and we get “phantom dick snatcher” yo what

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gore, Racism, Sexism, and Violence

mayvisin's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative lighthearted mysterious 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? No

4.0

I really liked this book! The world building was super fun (especially the rivers), I really enjoyed Peter as a protagonist, the supporting characters were really interesting and the audiobook was really well produced. 

The fly in the ointment for me (and probably why this was 4 instead of 5 stars) was that I was getting a literary version of "Would this pass the Bechdel test?" because almost all the female characters seemed defined by their sexual relationships/availability/lack of availability to various male characters. Clearly after reading mainly women authors for several months, going back to male portrayals of women is a bit of a shock to the system.

I liked the book enough though that I plan to continue the series and hope it gets better from that standpoint...🤞

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Addiction and Rape