Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejidé

7 reviews

loesm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

siobhan28's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

Definitely check the trigger warnings! Such a complex and lyrical book, I've never read anything like it. Blends some Egyptian mythology with magical realism and supernatural themes. The writing is poetic and lyrical 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, and Murder

bobbyclark's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.75

Creatures of Passage is a very heavy and abstract speculative fiction, that reads like poetry and feels like mythology. Taking inspiration from Egyptian mythology, Yejidé navigates a somewhat simple story of a broken family in 70’s Washington DC through wave after wave of philosophy, culture, grief, and trauma. This is a beautifully written story, but you can’t escape the weight of it. This is not horror, but it is haunting.

The pace is slow and I do wish I had looked up the trigger warnings before jumping into this. I’m not sure I was mentally ready for some of the child stuff that this novel revolves around. While not exactly graphic, Yejidé does put you face to face with it. 

3.5 to 4 stars. I’m teetering between the two.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

ogik's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and War

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

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