Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

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

189 reviews

indieleah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

A must read, an excellent take down of the prison complex and humans obsession with watching bad things happen to one another. Every now and then the language felt a bit pretentious, but that’s just personal preference I think. Excellent, and also, a tough read (VERY SAD). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape

smithalexis035's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book really got me thinking about the possible future of our incarceration system. This book is graphic, it can be easy to get lost too as there’s a lot of characters and it jumps around a bit. This book is out of my normal comfort zone for genre but I really enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Classism

solskxn's review against another edition

Unfortunately, I had to abandon this book halfway through, but it's not for the reasons you might think. 
Due to the graphic self-harm depicted when a new character named Patricia enters the story, I've had to part ways with it.

However, for those who may have a stronger stomach and less personal, visceral reactions to this particular trigger, please note that I would have rated this book highly. The subject matter itself is obviously harrowing, and there's no reprieve in this novel thus far. But the subject is provoking in its vulnerable nature, pitting minorities against one another in a gruesome way. It uncovers the core of humanity's evil and failings.

The narrative is interesting, written from various characters' perspectives, and it's poetic, brutal, vulnerable, real, and gross. Even though I couldn't continue, I believe this book has great merit and is worth your time if you're brave enough. Meanwhile, I'll be off reading a nice little children's story to settle my stomach and my inner child."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

kimapede's review against another edition

dark informative 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Rape

ellen_is_reading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

This book is stunning.

Through the lense of a high-action murder game show this book delivers a sharp criticism of the American penal system. By using such an extreme framing point, we are shown all of the ways that the penal system has failed, continues to fail, and could fail in the future. 

Incredibly human characters which force you to question your own complicity and limits of what kinds of punishment can be tolerated. 

Rooted in real statistics and structures of the modern justice system,  this story highlights racial disparities, harsh punishment practices, and all the ways that prisoners are seen as less-than and allowed to be harmed for it. 

I will be thinking about this book and it's message for a very long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Sexual content

theganewt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

This was a really great book, I randomly got it from my local library's book give away and was blown away by the depth of the characters and the topics discussed. This book brought up a lot of "scary" ideas that may seem like fiction, but the author ensured to cite sources showing just how based in reality this book was. The characters were incredibly interesting and the book was really well written, such that you felt like you were there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

bluemonkey14's review against another edition

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

4.5

A powerful story about the US prison system. The world of Chain-Gang All-Stars is removed enough from ours to make this a spec-fic but close enough to be a thought provoking and uncomfortable read.

The book is sprinkled with asides - some of these provide additional content, others context. I like the idea of this although it does make some of the social commentary points feel a little "on the nose" for my taste. That said, I knew a bit about some of the issues before going in, so what seemed obvious to me may not have been to others. In all I'd say the decision to err on the side of pushing the point home was probably the right way to go.

I really like the way the story is told through different viewpoints - at times it feels a bit like a collection of short stories which all come together in the climax. The story is dense and immersive, there's a lot to take in, but I think that reflects the nature of modern hyper-capitalist life. There's always something to distract you, always a new shiny thing just over there, always something to stop you looking at the blood on the ground.

The ending is abrupt and jarring, like so many endings both in the book and in real life. I do think there's a lot still to cover in this universe (

clearly, Loretta and Mari both have unfinished business

) so I really hope for a sequel or even more.

The violence is graphic and constant. It may not be to everyone's taste but again, it reflects the issues being portrayed. If the reflection in the mirror makes us uncomfortable, the only option is to change what's on this side of the glass.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Slavery, Suicide, and Police brutality

Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia

leannanecdote's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

deetabz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Confinement, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Torture, Grief, and Sexual harassment

crazybookworm31's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

This book was an incredibly gripping story, I had trouble putting it down even once, I was so wrapped up in the characters and the plot, I never wanted to let it go.
The story is grueling and painful, but the short chapters and many perspectives offers a bit of reprieve that kept this from being outright depressing. The character Staxxx acts to raise the morale of the other characters within the text, but she did the same for me too, making me laugh when I wanted to cry.
The story is a scathing indictment of the American prison system, one well deserved, and the horror comes not just from the concepts of the story, but by how close it feels to being reality. The horror of knowing we could become this held me the entire way through.
The story is told in many perspectives, something I had to get used to at first, but once I had, it was a breath of fresh air, a bit of creative story telling that is hard to find in published fiction. I greatly enjoyed the author's voice and writing style, the differences between characters voice, the way I could tell who was narrating, not just by the chapter title, but by their own brand of narration. That shows a great bit of talent and skill from the author, which I absolutely applaud.
Is this book sad? Upsetting? Makes you want to be sick? Absolutely. Is it one of the best fiction books I've ever read? Abso-fucking-lutely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Racism, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Self harm, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism

Non-linear story telling, unreliable narrator(s),

anti-black racial slurs, nazis, graphic depictions of physical and psychological torture, brain-breaking