Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

6 reviews

karcitis's review against another edition

mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Racism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and War

morimyths's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Rape, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Violence, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Genocide, Homophobia, Incest, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia

poirot's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and War

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective 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? No

3.5

 - THE GILDA STORIES is an expansive, meditative exploration of found family, womanhood, and Blackness told through the story of Gilda, a young Black lesbian vampire, as she lives through the centuries.
- It took me a bit to get into this story, as I often find older novels keep the characters at a bit of a remove for my tastes. But once I got a handle on it, I was invested in Gilda and her search for a place and people to belong with.
- It reminded me quite a bit of Octavia E. Butler's work, not just for the vampire parallels to FLEDGLING, but also for the considerations of complex relationships and families as characters navigate new situations and realities. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

stormywolf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-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

 Breaking out of my reading slump to read last month's pick in Maven of the Eventide's (aka Elisa Hansen's) Vampire Book Club proved to be no easy feat. Unfortunately, my library did not carry the audiobook, and it turned out I had other obligations the night of the meeting. Luckily I found a copy of the audio online, and, as always, the book club meetings are saved for posterity, so while I wasn't there for the live discussion, I was able to participate in some ways (unlike the previous month's when my library didn't even carry a text copy for The Silver Kiss). And though I'd never heard of this book before the club picked it out, the premise seemed especially intriguing and I was eager to experience it. Let me just say, wow.

Read my full review at The Wolf's Den

Overall, this book will undoubtedly sit with me for quite sometime. From the characters, to the settings, to the long and tumultuous journey of self-discovery, I was wholly invested. The exploration of life, and what it means to live and love from the perspective of an outsider, along with powerful depictions of struggling to choose what's best for yourself and for those around you, even if that means starting over, were what impacted me the most. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in historical fiction, books featuring BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ main characters, empowering women, Afrofuturism, or just a fresh, new take on vampires—even hailing from 30 years ago! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Racial slurs, and Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Biphobia, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Stalking, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation