Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

9 reviews

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

'Brown Girl in the Ring' by Nalo Hopkinson is an engaging folklore filled novel set in nearfuture Toronto. 
Ti-Jeanne lives in postriots Toronto with her grandmother. Her mother disappeared when she was young and Ti-Jeanne has been working to find her place in the world. When Tony, the father of her child, comes to Ti-Jeanne's grandmother for help after the local crime boss taps him for a horrific project, Ti-Jeanne begins to learn more about her grandmother's spirits and how the violence in the city is tied to her own family. 
I am amazed that this was Hopkinson's debut novel. The prose is pristine and evocative. The characters are fully fledged and engaging. The reader is plopped down into a world that feels real. I love how Hopkinson has mixed Caribbean folklore with a nearfuture Toronto setting to create something completely new and unique. There is so much that happens in this book over a relatively short amount of time and yet it is easy to follow and exciting. I cannot wait to read more of Hopkinson's work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Blood, Murder, Violence, Torture, Gun violence, Gore, Classism, Child death, Death of parent, and Body horror

Moderate: Addiction, Abandonment, and Drug use

sadie_g's review against another edition

adventurous challenging fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Death, and Drug use

Minor: Child death and Domestic abuse

solenodon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Body horror, Blood, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Grief, Confinement, and Child death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Death of parent, Sexism, Racism, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

laurensilva's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Body horror

a_davis's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

this was a really interesting read… it’s the first Caribbean magical realism book I’ve read and I really liked the story, there were definitely some parts that were hard to get through though (both pacing-wise and content-wise) 

book 4 for afrofuturism seminar! will update with notes

Spoiler

we came to the fairly obvious consensus that this novel is about intergenerational trauma. Rudy is the embodiment of the patriarchy and the damage it does specifically on Black women. in the case of Mi-Jeanne, he extracts all her value until she remains as only a husk of a person, much like patriarchal structures drain women dry (i.e. women being primary caregivers in a family and also being expected to work full-time). we also discussed whether Hopkinson (and Butler from previous weeks) thinks apocalypse is necessary for the type of community bonding we see in the novel, and someone pointed out that the apocalypse has been happening over and over for Black people, from early slavery to chattel slavery to Jim Crow laws to the present... Hopkinson's story felt less like afrofuturism than afrohistory, describing the present for many inner-city communities. the question of whether this should qualify as sci-fi was answered by my prof: the author is Afro-Canadian and wrote this book for Black Canadians, and sci-fi is inherently American. making the plot overly science-y wouldn't have worked for the community it was written for, but qualifies as sci-fi in its own culture. someone also made the point that Baby breaks the intergenerational trauma started with Rudy because his soul is taken over by Dunston, who is not related by blood to Rudy. he is a new start- Ti-Jeanne, while the catalyst for Rudy's demise, still has his blood in her veins and is reminded of that by the spirits at the end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

menomica's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

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

I don’t normally like reading dystopian novels bc it’s usually a form of political critique and it comes off as  speculative fiction, which doesn’t really spark that much joy for me, or it’s just a back-drop for the very boring and white characters (i.g. The Hunger Games or Divergent). But… this one here very much intrigued me. I like the aspect of Haitian mythology. The story is very well-made. It starts off a bit slow and then after Chapter 5 Miss Hopkins will not let you know peace. Just panic and stress and vibes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Murder, and Torture

Minor: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Gun violence, Grief, Excrement, and Child death

hairymclary28's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content and Grief

Minor: Ableism

mothdan's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Torture, and Body horror

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, and Sexual content

Spoiler

forced drug use and a POV character has to witness someone being skinned alive

mahela's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

Brown Girl in the Ring is set in a futuristic, run-down version of Toronto and centers on Ti-Jeanne, a young woman and mother, and her grandmother Gros-Jeanne. Gros-Jeanne is what some would call an "obeah woman" who conjures and talks to spirits. But she's also a healer who tries to pass on her knowledge to a reluctant granddaughter. The two are forced to confront violent pasts and presents, ultimately leading Ti-Jeanne to follow in her grandmother's footsteps.

I read Hopkinson's Midnight Robber and loved it, so I wanted to read Brown Girl in the Ring as well. Of the two, I definitely preferred Midnight Robber - to me its fantastic setting was even more compelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Body horror, and Blood