Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia

9 reviews

leanne_miron's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Gore, Hate crime, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, and Police brutality

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

hailstorm3812's review

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.75

This has such great characters and vibes that it carries it through a lackluster mystery. I love Louise and her friends and journey, and the rich painting the author set. I do wish structurally the second half had gotten another editing pass. It started to feel like things were just happening without adding more to the mystery or raising the stakes.

I really don't think Celia had to die. Louise was already desperate to stop him and on to him, and didn't need extra motivation and her ouiji plan was so odd. I feel like we set up some mystery around Celia's boy and Josie's disappearances and her original kidnapping that we were going to play into but didn't. I think kidnapping one or both of the twins would have been better to up the stakes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Police brutality, Racism, Stalking, Murder, Violence, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Misogyny, Gun violence, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Alcohol and Death of parent

heather667's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexism, Trafficking, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, Body horror, Death, Homophobia, Police brutality, and Violence

Moderate: Torture and Rape

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, War, Cultural appropriation, and Adult/minor relationship

zoepagereader's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I had high hopes for this going in, how could I not when it’s a historical fiction mystery set New York during the Harlem Renaissance? But unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. I did not fully under any of the characters and felt that all of them had only been written at the surface of their stories. I still don’t really understand the motive for murder and still think it should have been someone else. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Gore

Minor: Body horror

mybeevenme's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, Sexism, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Stalking, and Hate crime

gothnailcare's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

2.0

I so wanted to like this book. The characters were lovable and I admired the author's dedication to describing clothes and social spaces, but the book's pacing and the shifts in narrative style worked against the story, page after page. I am not the kind of mystery reader who makes demands of the author with regards to who knows what & when they're given the agency to figure it out. Is the reader given information to determine who the killer is before the detective? Or does the detective know something the reader doesn't? Whatever the answer, I am usually happy to be along for the ride and observing at any distance as long as the narrative plays these cards well, but I can't say I felt this book succeeded.

Additionally, there were a number of loose ends I assumed would be tied up at the end of the book, but explanations for these never materialized. I have to assume that some of this is done for the purpose of setting up the next book. But if I'm not sure whether a book is setting up a second novel or whether it's littered with red herrings, well...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Alcohol, Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, and Hate crime

Minor: Classism, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual harassment, Stalking, and War

venetiana's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

Great atmosphere and setup, loved the characters. Unfortunately very slow, and somewhat repetitive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Racism, Alcohol, and Murder

Moderate: Racial slurs and Hate crime

Minor: Religious bigotry, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual violence, and Stalking

kaamilah28x's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Hate crime, Murder, and Racism

Minor: Rape

jordan_fri's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, Racial slurs, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Alcohol