Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

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

17 reviews

biobeetle's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Hate crime, Slavery, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Cancer

tinyplanet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Transphobia, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Car accident, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Classism, and Deportation

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.

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

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

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

5.0

"I seen men I knew were a danger to the world and they too deserve better than this." 

I don't even know what to say about this one. Brutal and honest, great character writing. A little bit of speculative fiction to shine a light on the horrors existing right now. In some places it feels a little "abolition 101" but overall the prose sings. Phenomenal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, and Religious bigotry

jesromas's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Police brutality, and Death of parent