Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo

10 reviews

orlagal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia

natrabbits's review

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Religious bigotry, Racism, Grief, Genocide, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Police brutality, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Suicide, and Death

elle_g's review

dark informative reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

People sell this book as 'African Animal Farm', but that doesn't do it justice!
Glory describes the events surrounding the 2018 Zimbabwe election using animals rather than people; using animals provided distance for those close to the violence and made it accessible for those who didn't know this piece of history, while pulling back the veil every once in a while to remind you that these events happened to real people. 
Literary, heartbreaking, & hopeful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Suicide and Rape

toniamarieparker's review

emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Death of parent, Rape, Colonisation, Death, War, Sexual harassment, Grief, and Racism

Moderate: Genocide and Kidnapping

oddity123's review

challenging funny slow-paced

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

4.75

Wow, just wow. Take Things Fall Apart’s cultural markers and oral storytelling feel, Animal Farm’s allegorical devices, the sweeping epic revolutionary backdrop of The House of the Spirits and set it in 2017 with WhatsApp and YouTube playing significant roles and you’ve got this Zimbabwean parable in about 400 pages. My favorite might be the “American tweeting baboon.” It’s  a challenging read, for sure, and I really think it could’ve been quite a lot shorter. The pace is really slow to start. Almost all the humor is in the first half though. Then it took my breath away. I wish I could incorporate this book into my world lit curriculum but it won’t fit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Genocide, Torture, Police brutality, Colonisation, Rape, and War

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Suicide

literaryscouser's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.5

This book is a fantastic journey to another world. The wider world is somewhat similar to our own, but the country of Jidada is built to be so realistic that as you read you will be so invested in these characters and places. I will say the first 1/3 is a bit of a slog, but power through because it comes to build background for what happens later and is so worth sticking with. To say this book is Orwellian, is fine but I worry it might take away all the aspects that makes this book unique and powerful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, War, and Violence

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Suicide

mappy's review

challenging dark hopeful 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

4.75

What a phenomenal book. The breadth and ambition is astounding as Bulawayo successfully paints a picture of the terror, hope and complexity of a dictatorial regime, a corrupt revolution, and the effects of a colonial past - both at a societal level and for every individual.

What stands out is the role technology plays in liberation, religion's place in the toolbox of oppressors, and how a regime cannot prosper without the support of those who are the long hand of the law. The narrative voice embodies the oral tradition of those who dream of revolution and the power of grassroots action in communities that have endured so much.

This is dark and challenging, but often entertaining in its satire. While not my highest rated, and having read only half of the longlist so far, Glory is my pick for winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction. It would take a powerful contender to usurp its position at the top of my list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Police brutality, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, and Homophobia

mariah_reads's review

challenging dark informative slow-paced

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

2.0

This was a hard read, but I also learned a lot and it forced me to educate myself. It needed to be cut by 100 pages, and maybe should have been short stories. But there were gripping vignettes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, War, Violence, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Police brutality

sammieolig's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

I really didn’t know what to expect going into this book, but I ended up loving it! (I recommend doing quick research on Zimbabwe’s history to set the backdrop for the novel, as that really cleared things up for me.) It’s about the effects of colonialism, loss, generational trauma, feminism, and so much more. 

Bulawayo has such a unique writing style that flows between wit and heartache, and makes you feel the same boiling rage as the characters. I mean, this quote; “We discovered that the true, the proper love for the nation was coming together like we were at that moment doing… That what truly counted was showing up for each other, was refusing silence, was actively fighting for what was right, was demanding justice for your fellow citizens… we discovered that the only way to be a better Jidada was to in fact start by being each other’s treasures.” That’s powerful!!

If you’re considering reading this book, do it! It’s beautiful and fast and has a wonderful blend of infuriating and loveable characters. It feels almost wrong to compare this to Animal Farm, as it just goes so deep into the lives of people affected by an uncaring government and what it takes to bring about change.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, War, and Violence

Minor: Suicide and Police brutality

kayschwe's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, Cursing, Rape, Suicide, Gun violence, Violence, War, Racism, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, and Xenophobia