Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Ruby: A Novel by Cynthia Bond

9 reviews

jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

passionyoungwrites's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

Reading this became harder as the book progressed. Not only does Ruby see spirits, she has times where she seems “to others” to be talking to herself, screaming, and eventually not taking care of herself at all. 

To read how her mother left her, and she was taken to “work” for a woman for years made me sad. What was worse was who took her there. 

🦢 

Though Ruby grew up and moved to New York to find her mother, she comes back to Liberty and the worst that could happen - happens. 

The only person in town that sees, knows, remember, and cares is Ephram Jennings. The twist is that Ephram is a preachers son who defies his sisters wishes by keeping company with Ruby. 

The twist is that Ephram doesn’t know as much as his sister does about the people of Liberty, Texas. Nor does he know that he’s really righting the wrongs of his family from so many years ago. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

rubybeast47's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

bookme007's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Vomit

railee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I had to get through this quickly because I was hoping for redemption. I was pretty disappointed. There was so much hurt and pain. I know that the world is like that, but man this was hard to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

This book has a lot of trauma in it.

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

• 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

 Ouch. Ruby was a real gut-punch of a read filled with all sorts of trigger warnings - sexual abuse, rape, child abuse, incest, trafficking, racism, and religious abuse being the first that come to mind. So much pain. So much suffering. So much darkness and trauma. This is not a book for the faint-hearted

Following a horrific childhood Ruby escapes to the big city where she survives rather than thrives. Being summoned back to her southern hometown, which remains keen to judge and condemn her for the sins done to her, precipitates a breakdown. The care and kindness of Ephraim, a childhood friend who has trauma of his own to deal with, eventually helps her to make peace with her past, to somehow learn to live with it.

Ruby seems personify the entirety of trauma suffered by Black women in America. The book clearly fits in the lineage of Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. At times the trauma felt overbearing and too much. But I’m well aware that says more about my privilege than the reality others experience. I was both pleased and relieved though that the ending offered some small measure of hope.

I’m not normally a fan of “magical realism” but I found it worked for me in this case. Apart from its use in scenes of voodoo and black magic I thought it a really effective way to demonstrate the trauma Ruby suffered and the inner turmoil she continued to live with, a way to explain the inexplicable, to say the unspeakable.

The writing was wonderfully evocative, the characters unforgettable, and the story totally compelling. But very much not a book for everyone.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Trafficking

benslette's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• 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: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

incigiru's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Biphobia, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Torture

tina94's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

Every trigger warning you could possibly imagine applies, oof

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence