Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

21 reviews

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Car accident, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

olliedrawlight's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-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

5.0

This is a book everyone should read. I 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

megb64's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Self harm, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Toxic relationship

dominiq_ec's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

I mean, this is just one of the best books I've read in a while. Considering another dystopian / apolalyptic favorite of mine, Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin, its so rooted in human rights issues in the United States, and is just dystopian enough to convince you that we may not see this come to fruition. But what if we do? How will you think? 

I thought that Thurwar and Staxxx both died at the end, but I was wrong and now my heart is broken.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Car accident, and Alcohol

I mean, this book does force you to take a relatively deep look at the United States penal system, which does include reading about the crimes some of these characters committed, as well as how they are (mis)treated by those that are responsible for their care. At the same time, these incarcerated folks are fighting to the death for entertainment's sake, so there's a lot of gory, violent descriptions. There is mentions of rape, but no graphic details. There is torture, and loss of life. It's a troubling book, so read with caution.

oz2021's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Torture, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide and Toxic relationship

lycheejelly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug use, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

texashippie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

daniellekat's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.75

A very difficult book to rate. There was so much packed into this but overall it lacked focus. The author is a talented writer but, for me, this was messy and chaotic. There were way too many characters and names to follow and the changing POVs just added to the confusion. I enjoyed the addition of the factual footnotes, but the intermixing of fiction footnotes watered down the effect and distracted from the main novel. I can appreciate what the author was attempting and I think that there is much value in turning a magnifying lens to the American carceral system, but this needed more fine tuning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

readsandsuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

olivia_vosper's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer and Transphobia