Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejidé

37 reviews

dwejra's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

WARNING: Check the content warnings of the book because the blurb does not focus on what is the most important part of the story!

While Nephthys' story is important and ties together the stories of other people, it is not the most important plotline nor is she the most important character Instead, the main important storyline focuses around

a child molester and their many victims.

While for me that was not a problem, i probably wouldn't have chosen the book to read should I have known this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

 Creatures of Passage is a reread which managed to blow me away again. Despite being longlisted for the Women’s Prize this seems to have flown under the radar which is a shame because it is the most memorable book I’ve read this year. It’s richly atmospheric and there is plenty of tension and foreshadowing, a real sense of foreboding. It’s the work of a fabulous storyteller adept at using language which is both gorgeous and powerful. The final section…. phew. Heavy but highly recommended. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism and Racism

rorikae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.75

‘Creatures of Passage’ by Morowa Yejide is a gripping novel that utilizes folklore and fabulism to explore one family’s struggles. 
Nephthys drives an old Plymouth Belvedere around town, picking up people that need to go somewhere and ferrying them to their destination. Feeling lost ever since her twin brother was killed, she has drifted away from her family, her niece Amber who can see visions of people’s deaths and Amber’s son Dash, who has begun seeing visions of a man down by the river. When Amber sees a vision of Dash’s death, their three stories begin to intertwine back together. 
Yejide utilizes folklore and fabulism to explore the very real struggles of one family and the ebbs and flows of familial relationships. The story winds between different characters so that we get time with all of them as we begin to understand more about how they relate to one another and the world at large. On top of the main characters, we also follow Osiris, Nephthys’ twin brother as he moves through a murky afterlife as well as the antagonist of the novel. Yejide’s lyrical prose as well as the distinct characters that populate this story make this a memorable and affecting tale as we also learn how the characters have impacted their wider community. This book deals with a lot of difficult subjects and there is a very large trigger warning for child abuse. Some of this book was very hard to read but all of the pieces come together to tell the full story of this community and this specific family. Harrowing, heartbreaking, and heartwarming all in one, ‘Creatures of Passage’ is an excellent novel that showcases the real talent of Yejide. I am fascinated to see what she writes next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Drug use, Rape, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and War

ciaomara's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, and War

gracemacdonald94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

What a gorgeous book. Some of the themes make it a really tough read, so I took my time with it. But overall it is a beautiful and thoughtful book with a hard earned ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

maggiems's review against another edition

3.0

A classic case of wrong book at the wrong time. Just was in a reading slump and struggled to get through this. 

The book is beautifully lyrical and has the exact right aura of mysticism, but some of it was a hard read. 

Need more black joy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

geraldinerowe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.75

I struggled with this book. It has some fascinating ideas and was excellent in parts, but seemed to be muddled in others. The language, which some have described as beautiful, I found pointlessly pretentious. The story rambled, despite being a short book, and went off on long tangents. But nevertheless kept me reading until the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Violence, Car accident, and War

Minor: Suicide

thogek's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Creatures of Passage is an unusual novel in today's landscape, but one I'm glad I got to experience.

The cultural background formed by mostly Gullah peoples making (or perhaps passing through) their lives in the poor DC neighborhood of Anacostia in what feels like an alternate-universe version of the United States but sometimes doesn't, woven through with various elements of what might be called urban fantasy or magical realism but so smoothly so that every weave clearly belongs right where it is, and told from a richly fluid word-of-mouth storyteller-historian point of view that here and there touches on the poetic, all delivers a rich story experience built on top of what it otherwise a relatively simple story.

Creatures of Passage is just different and odd enough that I don't know that I ever would have found it myself if I hadn't happened across its foggy blue cover in a LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaway. I came to much appreciate my seconds minutes hours with it, though I had no way of knowing this at the time...  ;-)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Cursing and Suicide

lianne_rooney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Racial slurs, Grief, Car accident, and War