Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejidé

14 reviews

august_goldfischer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War

writingcaia's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Deserves more hype and more love.
A lyrical story of the tragedy of being abused, of being part of systemic racism and killings.
It’s chilling and haunting, and poetic, and doesn’t let go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Racism, Violence, and Murder

gellyreads's review against another edition

challenging fast-paced

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

2.5

I don't know if this book just isn't for me or if I wasn't ready for it. I had so much trouble following the plot and who's POV it was, despite this being a quick read (I essentially read it in one sitting, which I wonder if that lead to my trouble). The concept and the mythology is really interesting, I just couldn't connect to a single thing that happened. I may try to re-read this in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol

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

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

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

annamolpus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

2.75

I cared about the characters and appreciated the sense of setting, but I struggled quite a bit with the mythology/magical realism elements.  Trigger warning for child abuse.  I wouldn't have finished if this hadn't been a selection for my book club.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia

Moderate: Alcoholism and Violence

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