Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

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

---

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

---

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

kaynova's review

slow-paced

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

2.5

There’s insufferable characters and then there’s Ava and Cast. Winnie had a point when she said Ava cared about no one but that man! Like you have a child to raise and you’re not even going to do your best for him, then again, she only did pregnant because she wanted something to remember Cast by so…i’m not surprised but oh my goodness, I couldn’t deal with her. The reason I suffered through this book is because Tousaint’s storyline was beautiful, especially following around a kid and Duchess’ plot was also well woven. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Medical content

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. 

---

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

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.

---

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

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug use

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

 The Unsettled is the story of Ava, her son Touissant, and her mother Dutchess. It’s set during the 1980s in Philadelphia and Alabama. Ava and Touissant end up in a homeless shelter after her abusive husband kicks her out. Ava reconnects with Cass, Touissant’s father, and they move to a community he leads focussed on Black liberation. It’s safe to say this is not the utopia they might wish it to be. Meanwhile Dutchess is struggling since Bonaparte, the Black owned town where she lives, is on the verge of extinction. The first section of the book set in the family shelter was probably my favourite. I found the conditions in the shelter, the attitudes of the staff and the bureaucracy surrounding it to be both infuriating and eye-opening. This book had a lot to say about race and the many ways it affects the lives of Black Americans, and about intergenerational trauma, how one event can affect those not even born when it occurred. By and large it is a depressing read, although there is a glimmer of hope for the future. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Police brutality

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Police brutality