Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

6 reviews

bitter_critter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nrhilmer's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

vedpears's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? No

2.25

What a challenging read - not because of the writing style, but because of the content. 
Abundant run on sentences took some getting used to, but I managed to navigate that just fine. 
I enjoyed how the story was written in such a way that it was like viewing a large photo by zooming in, then zooming out a bit, zooming in somewhere nearby, zooming out again until the whole picture is revealed.
What I did not enjoy was the overwhelming number of elements that would warrant trigger warnings: sex, rape, child abuse, pedophilia, slavery, bodily harm, mutilation, murder, combinations of all of those at once with a gratuitous serving of explicit language. 
The overarching story is intriguing. The characters and concepts borrowed from African history and mythology were woven in very well. If this were written to be less corrosive on the psyche, I would have rated it higher.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

It basically has all the trigger warnings, including infanticide.

kingcrookback's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

I'm fairly sure that people called this "the African Game of Thrones" for marketing purposes because they both occupy the epic fantasy space, but I think the comparison is apt for other reasons. Similar to how A Song of Ice and Fire is something of an examination and deconstruction of feudal fantasy and grapples with how myth, history, and subjective experiences tangle and interweave, Black Leopard, Red Wolf also tackles the interplay among truth, stories, and subjectivity. Admittedly, I initially found it difficult to detect and hook onto this theme, partially due to the book's graphicness as well as the fact that that's...simply how it goes with a lot of fantasy worlds. It took me about 100 pages to find my footing, and reading James' interview with the Boston Review was also very helpful (https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/representation-doesnt-just-mean-heroes-we-need-the-villains-as-well).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Slavery, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Drug use

nate_b's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

A truly brilliant story! The world-building of an alternative African magical reality is absolutely incredible. I will need to give this another listen, though it is so intense and violent I don't know when I'll be up for it. It's almost like the most graphic type of scenes from Law & Order: SVU all put together with terrifying descriptions of witchcraft blended with mysterious powers, destiny, loss, and a pervasive, bitter sense of betrayal.

It was hard to follow at times but well worth the effort and time. It's a long book but so exquisitely told!

The author does not shy away from extremely graphic depictions of the acts of his characters, including sexual assault, murder, and war crimes against children. I actually had to set it aside after the first time I tried listening to it until a time when I was more able to handle the violent opening scene and get into the fascinating characters beyond. Maybe next year I'll be up to listen to the sequel! I hope they get the same narrator. He did a phenomenal job! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail