Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford

10 reviews

apworden's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

Spoiler

not sure I am comfortable with how Dorothy overdosing solving everyone’s problems could be interpreted by someone in a similarly stressful situation

otherwise, a beautiful book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, War, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Ableism, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Deportation, Pregnancy, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Death, Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Colonisation

car3b3ar's review

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming and Domestic abuse

lizsurber's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Classism, Death, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Vomit

Moderate: War and Xenophobia

Minor: Self harm and Forced institutionalization

chelle_benedetti's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Rape, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Self harm

mikaelaandherbooks's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, and Domestic abuse

Minor: War, Violence, and Xenophobia

nataliebootlah's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

This novel centers around epigenetic inheritance, or the effects of inherited trauma. Spanning multiple generations and points of views, The novel follows the lives of seven different women from the same family starting with Afong Moy, who is loosely based off of the first Chinese woman to set foot in America by the same name. Each woman faces some sort of trauma that has been passed down from their mother.

I wasn’t really engrossed in the novel until around half-way through and then I found it hard to put down. It’s part historical-fiction, part science-fiction, and an entirely unique look at the effects of generational trauma. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, and Rape

louisekf's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Rape, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

nailartklaudia's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Racism, and Domestic abuse

Minor: War

leahvanert's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.5

 I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

My brain kind of hurts after this one, but not in a bad way.

This novel spans 7 generations and centers around the theory of epigenetics (the study of inheriting trauma/memories/etc. through DNA). I really enjoyed getting to know all the characters and Ford's writing style is truly mesmerizing.

The science of it all and keeping track of where we were and who we were with in the timeline was a little over my head. The idea is fascinating, but I couldn't follow it completely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Abandonment

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Sexual content

Minor: War

utopiastateofmind's review

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

The Many Daughters of Afong May examines inherited trauma. These pieces of our lives we pass on to our descendants. And the fragmented memories and experiences which are passed on to us. How the history of racism evolves in our lives. At the beginning, there was a bit of confusion to figure out the daughters of Afong May and their lives. While there are timelines and a key at the beginning, it's natural with set ups like this that it takes time for each character to establish themselves.

For me, it took a bit longer than normal, but I think it's also due to the fact that with multiple POVs there are often certain ones that resonate with you more. Some end up being ones that aren't your favorite and then others sometimes resonate more with you for some reason. Pretty early on I realized I had two or three favorite POVs and a few of them are not focused upon as much. Overall, The Many Daughters of Afong May examines the dignities - both quiet and loud - that we give up, that are stripped from us.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Homophobia, Rape, and Domestic abuse