Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

9 reviews

bookgurl488's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was about a man who was straddling two worlds. The first world was that of a family man that sold furniture in his store and the other one; was a two bit crook inherited from his father side of the family.  The dichotomy of these worlds is what made this book interesting.  He would not have survived these worlds without Pepper. He was awesome.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Bullying, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Blood

Minor: Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and War

rmgilchrist's review

adventurous challenging emotional tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Drug use, Death of parent, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Murder, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

lizsurber's review

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, and Police brutality

Moderate: Death of parent and Forced institutionalization

elenatamsen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Classism, Drug use, Murder, Racism, Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, and Police brutality

Minor: Abandonment, Blood, and Death of parent

for_esme_with_love's review

adventurous funny mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

My favorite kind of crime novel: one with no copaganda to be found! 

Set in 1960s Harlem, this noir thriller follows a furniture salesman wrestling with his commitment to remaining on the straight and narrow, all the while his path is increasingly filled with twists and disreputable turns. The narration is full of shrewd observations about a city that is crooked to its core, introducing us to a cast of deliciously unsavory characters. I loved the subtle humor -- witty repartee between characters and a protagonist who can't help but wax poetic on the value of a good sofa or dining room set, even in the most dire circumstances. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, and Death

Minor: Cursing and Forced institutionalization

The racism and homophobic displayed by some characters are definitely supposed to be bad, not the views of the author

skylaturner's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Police brutality

davidrb's review

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

STRONG, STRONG contender for my favorite book of the year, and certainly for my favorite published this year. Wonderfully paced, dryly funny, and with such a tight grasp on story and plot. I came out of it way more emotional than I banked for. The Count of Monte Cristo references...wow!

Savored every minute.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Violence

There's a scene midway through the book that veers close to rape and will likely trigger people who are affected by sexual assault.

canadabooks's review

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Racism

butyougotmysoul's review

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this novel.  I will say up front - this novel has several typos and errors that made some of the storyline hard to follow - the wrong names in some places makes everything a little difficult unless you're reading extremely closely.  With that all being said - I had a little bit of a hard time with this novel - there were points where the plot FLEW by, but then other times that seemed extremely extraneous.  I'm not entirely sure why some parts were added to the novel.  All that aside, I did enjoy this book overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Gun violence