Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara

15 reviews

katharina90's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

"Please tell the people in your country, a child in the Congo dies every day so that they can plug in their phones."

Whatever you think you know about mineral mining in the Congo, the reality is so much worse. 

Siddharth Kara paints a devastating picture of the dystopian world we live in and the cruelty most of us in the Global North are complicit in every day. 

"Nothing looks the same after a trip to the Congo. The world back home no longer makes sense. It is difficult to reconcile how it even inhabits the same planet. Neatly arranged mountains of vegetables at grocery stores seem vulgar. Bright lights and flushing toilets seem like sorcery. Clean air and water feel like a crime. The markers of wealth and consumption appear violent."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, and Trafficking

Minor: Alcoholism

andeulea's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Slavery, Violence, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape and Torture

Minor: War

tey_lynn's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

dragongirl271's review

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Police brutality and Pandemic/Epidemic

claraarianne's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

anna_wa's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ohlhauc's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Alcoholism, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

haleybird's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

This book was incredibly thought provoking and informative, it’s just really dense and was personally hard for me to get through, but I’m glad I did! It’s difficult for me to keep up with so many acronyms, company names, so much data and stats, etc. 

Regardless of that, however, I do believe this is a book that anyone who uses rechargeable electronics or electric vehicles should read. The more people know about the atrocities that continue to be committed in the Congo for the sole purpose of exploiting their resources, the better. 

I will surely be much more conscious about my consumption of products that use rechargeable batteries moving forward, as I can’t in good conscience keep blindly consuming while children, women, and men in the Congo continue to die indiscriminately. We all need to do better!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

drought_season's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Misogyny, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

moon_peach's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

Heartbreaking but important to read to understand what we are contributing to. Unfortunately things are getting worse but if enough people learn about the real abuses happening we might be able to cause change.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment