Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Refugee by Alan Gratz

14 reviews

dmdeacon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

libreroaming's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.75

Alan Grantz manages to weave three different stories of refugees over time and continents into a tense nail biter of a novel. Usually when you skip from one group to the next, one inevitably falls behind but all three managed to be very strong, perhaps with one hiccup exception where Joseph's story had to go through a timeskip before finishing. Grantz doesn't flinch from explaining the hazards his characters go through, which makes it a satisfying, if not somber, read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and War

jennswan's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and War

Moderate: Torture, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

gillianengelbrecht's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, Vomit, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Islamophobia, Grief, and Pregnancy

c_e_w's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

heidifuglevand's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

flubbs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

It's a lot.......... it's a lot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Child death, Torture, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, and Death

That one scene where Ivan di3s in a shark @ttack...... I almost threw up to the sheer DETAIL of it. Like we did not need to know THAT much but okay. If you've read that scene..... I mean I was traumatized you were traumatized and I'm positive we all were and now we can be traumatized together:)

rose_k's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad 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? No

5.0

This book was incredible. Oh my word. It pulls at your heart strings and makes you want to do more for refugees. Definitely recommend reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and War

smasson13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I taught this book to my grade 7 students and it was exactly the type of book they needed. 

Covering three interconnected stories, across almost 80 years of time, Refugee was a novel that introduced my students to not only the issues facing refugees, but the barriers put in place against them by nations and organizations. 

Personally, I enjoyed Isabel and Mahmoud's stories the most. It felt like Josef's was more background information to tie the others together. 

The pace was slow at times but the alternating chapters kept students engaged. I appreciated the reflective aspect and the clear skill the author has in writing for children. The book provided great opportunities to study theme, character development, dialogue, and suspense. Things were just the right side of blatant so the students understood, but still gave opportunities for further inference.  I will definitely teach this novel again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Loss of child

mccabe_riley's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, and Torture

Moderate: Suicide attempt