Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander

9 reviews

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

I had to hold back tears by the end.

What a heartbreaking story that, despite in my heart of hearts  knowing something like this would befall Kofi and his loved ones, from an unassuming, slice-of-life first half it still shocked me!

This was full of laughter, friendships and childhood rivalries between cousins, a glimpse of life in upper Kwanta and suddenly a series of tragic events pertaining to accidental death, a sick sense of justice and slavery. My heart kept skipping over the anguish I felt.

This story was beautifully and perfectly captured within the art of prose and the layout of the words on the page helped to emphasise certain scenes through the power of the words used to describe them and how they were fashioned.

A sorrowful tale, but not withot hope. One that is important to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ambermariebee's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, and Violence

imsoverycool's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

It's a blend of an emotional rollercoaster, a diary of a young boy, and a history-inspired novel, which I really enjoyed. I recommend this heavily!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, and Deportation

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

girlreading's review

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A powerful and intensely moving piece of storytelling. Kwame Alexander‘s story of a young boy torn away from his home and sold into slavery is one of the most beautifully written books I’ve read exploring this insidious history. It’s bold and sweet and devastating and hold nothing back. I can’t wait to read book two in this immensely poignant trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery

justgraceanne's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Slavery, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault

stephanieswilley's review

challenging emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

mattyb's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol

xangemtheelibrarian's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad fast-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

5.0

Preface: I highly recommend the audio version of this. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is a wonderful narrator, and made me believe there were two or three people narrating until I looked to see who narrated Nana Mosi's lines. Holdbrook-Smith also did a fantastic job of breathing life into every single character and every moment of Kofi's story. 

While this story isn't horror, I think plenty of horror lies in the fact that while the story itself is fictional, everything the characters experienced is not. These are very real things that happened to people whose names we have tragically lost to history.

Kofi Offin loves swimming and loves Ama. The poetic love confessions he creates in his head and never tells her are so cute, but sometimes feel like they were created by someone older than he is. He hates his cousin, also named Kofi. I thought the way he described his cousin was hilarious and painted a very vivid picture. Kofi also loves his brother, Kwasi. He looks up to him, loves to laugh with him. Kofi's grandfather, Nana Mosi, gives him the ageless advice of their village and ancestors, while Mr. Goodluck, whom Kofi also enjoys making fun of, tries to push new Western ideology onto him. This story is absolutely rich in characters and gives a very strong feeling of community.

When Kwasi, Kofi's beloved brother, causes a tragic accident during a festival, the offended village retaliates, and

Kofi is kidnapped and sold into slavery. The piece of slavery that this story presents, from being sold by your own people to a strange people known only as "the wonderfuls," is one rarely seen. And Kwame Alexander describes the journey viscerally and palpably. If I have read a similar story before, this is the first one I remember that shows us what happened more frequently than not on the ships that transported enslaved Africans to the Americas.

 

The story has an open ending, but as I always tend to do with open endings, I imagine that Kofi successfully returned home, confessed his love to Ama, made amends with his cousin, and took up the mantle of storyteller like his Nana Mosi.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Trafficking, and Grief

Moderate: Gun violence and Sexual assault

Minor: Rape

molliesafran's review

challenging dark emotional sad fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Death, Racism, Sexual assault, and Suicide