Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Pik-Ass by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

139 reviews

emsavors's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mostlykenny's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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? No

5.0

This was so moving. I recommend so many people to read this. It’s amazing and twisted. And tells you a lot about our systems today. Warning, check the trigger warnings before reading if you’re pretty sensitive to these kinds of topics. But I still think it should be read since the world isn’t alll good in real life. Fiction mirrors reality sometimes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

eihdlidhd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual content and Police brutality

sweetrosegirl76's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Wow! It's a good book! I def recommend BIPOC proceed with caution and take breaks bc at least for me it was triggering and gave me anxiety bc I kept imagining the worst case scenario. tbh I think that's the point, to put yourself in the situation and feel it. The way this was escalating was insane yet not unbelievable nor surprising. The concept of "social eugenics" in racist institutions is not talked about enough, it's important we uncover, talk about the sometimes subtle way this manifests, and tbh run these institutions to the ground. The ending was satisfying but not enough, I wanted every racist to reckon with the consequences of their actions and I wanted them to have deal with the consequences and get justice, but the book is right, they're white they'll be fine.

Audio book narrator for Devon spoke VERY slow I had to listen to this book at like 1.90-1.95 speed. Sometimes I'd slow for Chiamaka's narrator. Sped up, they were both great but even at 1.5 which is my usual I felt like I was taking foreverrrrr

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Child abuse

daniellekat's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I wanted to like this more, but I think I'm just not the intended audience. Although exciting, the plot was somewhat predictable, and full of holes. So many characters were introduced for specific plot purposes only to be completely dropped later. And the characters that did stick around were one dimensional and lacked growth. The 

quick and neatly wrapped up

ending was lackluster and added to the book's strange pacing. This tackled some big and necessary themes, but ultimately missed the mark for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Stalking, Car accident, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

ratnix's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use

dangselena's review against another edition

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

5.0

Insane. Very Jordan Peele-esque. Slow start but picks up around 40 pages in and keeps the pace from there. So hard to put down! Hard to put into words but as a White passing Latina, this book quickly put me in my place in the best way possible. The author places the reader directly into the shoes of two Black teenagers and really envelopes you in their state of hypervigilance and terror. The story reveals very quickly how easy it is for any small misstep to ruin their lives instantly. I thought having the dual narration was particularly interesting because of the different experiences of the characters. While both characters are Black,

Chiamaka is half Italian and comes from a wealthy background while Devon is dark skinned and living in poverty. The author really managed to show how their backgrounds give them very different views of how to solve their problems. While they’re both experiencing anti-black racism, the characters are treated very differently by their aggresors because of their upbringing and even their gender and sexuality.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.5

I don’t want to write too much about this read, because I fear I would spoil something by accident, and I truly think the best way to experience this book is to go in not knowing much about the plot, so that you’re as confused as the MCs and disocvering the trurth right alongside them. The only reason I’m giving this less than five stars is because of some pacing issues. The first half could have been tightened up more, and more time needed to be spent on the climax. There was also an aspect of one MC that felt a bit shoehorned in and underdeveloped. But other than that, this was a truly phenomenal read, both insightful and harrowing. There were so many layers to the plot and characters that Àbíké-Íyímídé artfully constructed and peeled back for the reader. I can see why everyone raves about this work, and I’m really looking forward to reading Àbíké-Íyímídé’s 2024 release.

Rep: gay Black MC, sapphic biracial Black/white Italian/Nigerian-American MC, bi SC, Black Achillean SC

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Outing, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Major: three uses of the n-slur, eugenics Moderate: imprisoned loved one, capital punishment Minor: disownment, toxic masculinity, texturism, sick loved one, suicidal ideation, disordered eating

alreadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

this book is like if pretty little liars was way gayer and way more rooted in real world issues and it was so good

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Racial slurs, Self harm, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Murder

mamatrauma's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Classism