Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Summer That Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel

9 reviews

doppy's review against another edition

emotional tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal death, Miscarriage, Murder, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Suicide

abbruzzese's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

beautiful. heart-wrenching. elegantly written.

this book is like the temptation of the burning flame—impossible to turn away from; painful to the touch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, and Outing

Moderate: Violence, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, and Death

Minor: Child abuse

scenic92's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Animal death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Racism, and Violence

ellyra's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Murder, and Homophobia

Moderate: Torture

christcore's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Incredible. Extremely intense. Check content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Racism, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual content, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Homophobia

rcampbell's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This is the second of Tiffany McDaniel's books that I have read, 'Betty' being one of my favourite books last year.

This has the same dark, other-worldly, southern gothic feel to it. The story follows one boy, his family and the rural town he grows up in over one summer. Lots of moral lessons regarding religion, the "devil" amongst us and what evil is, were heavy going and not the most subtle but thoroughly enjoyed the story telling and use of language. 

The setting is perfect and clearly one that McDaniels knows well. The heat and stiffling sense of the town was tangible, building as the tension in the story grew.

One reservation I have is in McDaniel's characterisation of the town's apparently only person with a disability as angry and bitter and being the 'evil villain' figure in the plot. This particular trope felt outdated and the book was written in 2016. Think this is a bit lazy and has the potential to perpetuate long-standing harmful trope of connecting disfigurement/disability with villainy. Or maybe this was the point....?!

I will look out for her future publications as I enjoy her use of setting, language and story telling and raced through this book in a couple of days. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Suicide, Murder, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

la_lela's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Racism, Violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Miscarriage

lorylor's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Miscarriage

whatellisreadnext's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

2.0

This book was torture to read. This is what happens when an author tries to write about too many things at once. Every single message gets lost. There were pockets of good writing, but for the most part, the emotional exhaustion from reading this overshadowed everything.

My two main issues were:
1) the setting of 1984 to utilise HIV/Aids as a shocking plot point
2) the fact we are told to give empathy to the white supremacists that brutally murder a black child. Again this was utilised as a plot point to shock the reader. 

This book is written by a white woman. It came out 5 years ago, but if it was released now, it would be getting major backlash. It didn't sit right with me, and I recommend you don't read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Loss of a child