Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

35 reviews

valleysoshady's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I should have known from the jacket that it would be tough to read after experiencing the loss of a parent. And it was. So many themes.  Emigration, community, belonging, racism, feminism, family dynamics, secrets, being different, and so much more.

It made me love my family more, consider my priviledge, reflect on my parents as immigrants alone in a new country, my heritage. 

I loved all of the characters, their flaws, their strength, their damage and their triumphs. I loved the vein of politics and social justice, ever present and gracefully intertwined with the plot. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abandonment, and Alcohol

qkitten's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, and Forced institutionalization

merri217's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

deannab415's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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

5.0

This book made me feel every emotion under the sun. The writing was outstanding. Characters were human. Plot moved at a good pace.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Colonisation

marsmcel's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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? No

4.0

i liked this a lot! i can totally see why some people struggled with the writing style and pacing, but I felt like the chapters went by quick. I really enjoy multi-generational stories where you get to follow a butterfly effect of sorts, and I think I'll be ruminating on generational trauma and the lens we look at our family members/their actions through for a bit after finishing this.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt

jennabeck13's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

About 380 pages

Eleanor Bennett’s family has been in shambles for years. Eleanor and her son, Byron, haven’t seen her daughter, Benny, in years. Including at her husband’s funeral…. So when Eleanor is determining her final wishes and her will, her biggest priority is to get her children back together. But when Byron and Benny are called by Eleanor’s lawyer, they get the last two things they would have expected, their mother’s signature black cake and a recording detailing family secrets. These family secrets completely re-write the past and leave the family reeling. 

Contemporary fiction has become one of my favorite genres over the past year! I think whether I like them is heavily influenced by my ability to connect and empathize with the characters. Charmaine made that quite easy in this book. I loved all of the characters and the complexities of their stories. I think she did a terrific job of meshing the past and present timelines. And everything was beautifully woven together by the end. The pace was a little slow for me, but that is my only complaint! 

Favorite Quote: “The beauty of a thing justified its plunder. And nothing was more beautiful than a girl who was fearless.”

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Police brutality

hrothrock's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Colonisation

katbrookhart's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

seforaflorian's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail