Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo

34 reviews

oddity123's review against another edition

challenging funny slow-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? No

4.75

Wow, just wow. Take Things Fall Apart’s cultural markers and oral storytelling feel, Animal Farm’s allegorical devices, the sweeping epic revolutionary backdrop of The House of the Spirits and set it in 2017 with WhatsApp and YouTube playing significant roles and you’ve got this Zimbabwean parable in about 400 pages. My favorite might be the “American tweeting baboon.” It’s  a challenging read, for sure, and I really think it could’ve been quite a lot shorter. The pace is really slow to start. Almost all the humor is in the first half though. Then it took my breath away. I wish I could incorporate this book into my world lit curriculum but it won’t fit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Suicide

kers_tin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault

lovetlr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, and War

luise96's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

What an interesting read! The writing style felt really unique and immersive. However I wish I would have known a bit more before reading the book as it had some very dark parts, which I wasn‘t prepared for. All characters felt so real even though they are portrayed as animals. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Misogyny, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Rape

faduma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

your_true_shelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, and War

mappy's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful slow-paced

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

4.75

What a phenomenal book. The breadth and ambition is astounding as Bulawayo successfully paints a picture of the terror, hope and complexity of a dictatorial regime, a corrupt revolution, and the effects of a colonial past - both at a societal level and for every individual.

What stands out is the role technology plays in liberation, religion's place in the toolbox of oppressors, and how a regime cannot prosper without the support of those who are the long hand of the law. The narrative voice embodies the oral tradition of those who dream of revolution and the power of grassroots action in communities that have endured so much.

This is dark and challenging, but often entertaining in its satire. While not my highest rated, and having read only half of the longlist so far, Glory is my pick for winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction. It would take a powerful contender to usurp its position at the top of my list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Suicide

sharpenedknives's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Classism

Minor: War

yeahnaar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.75

The book’s content should induce anger and sadness, while also inspiring, but it is so badly executed that you feel very little while reading it. It feels like it was several different ideas mashed together without forethought. There are gripping, engaging moments throughout, but they are few and far between. I left the book feeling like I’ve gained nothing but lost time

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and Police brutality

sarahweyand's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

Honestly I feel kind of bad for disliking this one because I think the concept and the message are important. I appreciated the obvious nod to Animal Farm, and sometimes I thought there was nice prose. But this book was a slog if I've ever read one. I had to switch to the audiobook halfway through or I definitely would have DNF'ed it. I found the majority of the prose to be superfluous and overly repetitive (I'm talking literal pages of lists or repeated words). The story was told in such a style that the characters seemed flat and impossible to connect with.  There was less satire and humor than I was hoping for.

This book was a definite step outside my comfort zone to fulfill one of my reading challenges of reading a book from a different literary award shortlist each month, and I wish it had paid off more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Police brutality

Minor: Colonisation