Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

7 reviews

elderwoodreads's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective 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

5.0

This is the most unique book I read this year, possibly ever. Bray's writing style was a little odd at first but once I was in I was in. Everything I have found listed as cons by other readers were pros to me. I loved the plural first person narration, the slow burn, and the overly verbose descriptions. Please give this one a try. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Stalking, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Animal death, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Homophobia

Minor: Blood, Misogyny, Outing, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Medical content, Classism, Death of parent, and Racial slurs

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Misogyny, Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Racism, Stalking, Homophobia, Sexism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Fatphobia, Racial slurs, War, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Excrement, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Death, Cancer, Infidelity, Rape, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Child death, and Suicide

ameliez's review

funny lighthearted

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Homophobia, and Racism

Minor: Racial slurs and Animal death

kteq's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, Racial slurs, Animal death, and Stalking

Minor: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, and Sexual content

softersoft3st's review

fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racial slurs

cheye13's review against another edition

emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.0

"Eleven sticks bundled together can withstand anythinng. One stick out in the cold all on its own can't even withstand itself."

This was a fun and unique read, but I wanted more out of it. It's pitched as truly absurd, and I set my expectations too high. I wanted the story to push further – push the witchcraft, push teen angst & rage, even push field hockey further. Instead it precisely toes the line between fantasy – "magic is real" – and ambiguity – "is magic real?"; while both options could've worked, this story avoided the choice, building an ominous tone with no ultimate payoff. And while the end didn't pull the typical "married, suburbs, 1.5 kids," it still felt far too much like an epilogue to me.

On the other hand, the teen girls & their diverse personalities and experiences were stellar. The 80s east-coast suburb was nearly tangible, a great foundation for the story. I appreciated the nuanced contextualization of the 80s norms; serious topics like sexism, sexual assault, racism, etc. aren't simply swept away with "it was a different time," but addressed in-story, then further contextualized in relation to today. While it's not one of my favorite reads, I do think it's a good book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, and Vomit

iygatac_reads's review

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Listened to this as an audiobook. It was comedic and I appreciated the way the book showcased and reveled in the weirdness and wonder of being a teenage girl, but it just wasn't quite the book for me. I think part of if it is that it's very set in 1989 and if you weren't a teenager in the late 80s, the throwback references don't mean as much to you. But the very end did make me tear up because

of the whole, being in the company of your oldest friends and doing things together and reminiscing together thing

. The end definitely left me with a better feeling about the book than I was having throughout the rest of it.

If I'd been reading this as a physical book, I would have dnf'd it right within the first chapter. I knew that right away, but since I was listening to this during my walks, it was easy enough to just listen as someone else read it to me. But even with that, I kind of wonder if it would have felt different to read this as a physical book.  I appreciated how Barry managed to create several unique characters - all the girls from the team stick in my mind as distinct and interesting characters. 

Many descriptions I saw of the book before reading really made me think this was gonna be a different kind of book. But I'd never read anything by Quan Barry before, either.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship