Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis

8 reviews

baghaii's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Racism, Murder, and Abandonment

rachelcg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

quietturnover's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

Heartbreaking story told from multiple different perspectives. The perspectives are woven together in an engaging manner. Not an easy read, there are aspects I would have liked the author to explore further and the narrative felt disjointed at times, leaving me with unanswered questions. But overall remarkable job with excellent prose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Gore, Excrement, and Religious bigotry

thissagreads's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

1.0

This book is broken into 3 POV’s. A grandmother, her daughter, and her grandson. The grandmother is trying to keep her house, land and the black neighbors beside her, while she constantly chases off real estate crooks. Meanwhile, her daughter leaves an abusive husband, stays in a shelter with her son, thinks she’s better than the people staying and working there when she  falls back in love with her son’s father who’s the leader of a Black Panther type of group. Finally, there a little storyline for the son/grandson watches as his father, and consequently his mother being to take advantage of the people in this group…

In my opinion, this novel left me feeling hollow. The only person I semi-liked was the grandmother but she wasn’t a great parent, and unfortunately her daughter wasn’t a great parent, and instead  of changing for the better, everyone was really selfish. 

Gave this book 1 star because the black panther adjacent group was a cool concept. But there was such a slow heaviness that gave off feelings of hopelessness, lots of reminders about the racial and poverty disparities and disadvantages, poverty, and a constant reflection of the black plight… really depressing read with no closure. Would not recommend.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Abandonment

Minor: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, and Violence

clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective tense 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? Yes

3.0

I'm not sure how to feel about this one. It was written really well, and explored an organization that I wasn't aware of (MOVE Philadelphia). At points it was incredibly affecting, and at other points I struggled to follow what was going on. The Bonaparte chapters, although informative, felt slow and tacked on, and Ava as a character didn't quite gel for me. I feel like this book had a lot of potential, but ultimately I found it kind of disappointing.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, and Medical content

melissa_cosgrove's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Drug use

theredheadbaker's review

emotional sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Classism

annreadsabook's review against another edition

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

Ayana Mathis’ second novel introduces us to an estranged mother-daughter pair, Dutchess and Ava, as they lead their lives separately but always bound together by their shared memories and traumas. Set primarily in the 1980s, Ava and her son struggle for some semblance of normalcy during a stretch of houselessness that lands them in a community living facility in Philly. All the while, Ava fights the ghosts of her past that threaten to uproot her present and future. Meanwhile, Dutchess and her small-town Alabama community members wage a continual battle against nearby white townspeople who have been terrorizing them for years.

Each of the characters in this book is plagued by a profound sense of disquiet, some of which is inflicted upon them by others, by themselves, and by a profusely anti-Black and anti-Black woman society. And both Ava and Dutchess in particular are painted as deeply flawed characters; Ava, with her derision of the other unhoused people in her vicinity, and Dutchess, a mother who failed her daughter in countless ways. Mathis shows us a family that at every turn contends with its painful past and uncertain future, striving for dignity and peace in a world so bent on withholding it. I was fascinated in particular by Mathis’ depiction of Ava’s struggle for dignity as dependent on chipping away at others’—she wades deeper and deeper into the waters of “respectability” until she finds herself in a highly undesirable position for both herself and her son Toussaint. Although I found the book a bit difficult to get into at first, once I was in, I was hooked. And the last 25%? Wowowow! 😵‍💫😳😱

This is a great novel for those who enjoy deeply flawed characters, books that examine mother-daughter and mother-son relationships, and who just to dive into a “recent history” historical novel. Thanks so much Knopf and Netgalley for the e-ARC! I’m excited for more people to read this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Police brutality