Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste

11 reviews

billie_visible's review

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, War, and Violence

Moderate: Antisemitism and Domestic abuse

moriahleigh's review against another edition

emotional informative tense 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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Death, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Racism, War, and Domestic abuse

brogan7's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

3.75

Very difficult book.  Trigger warnings in every moment.

Perhaps the difficulties with this book lie in the difference between the expectations as set up by the blurb versus the reality of the story as it is told?
Maybe this is meant to reflect the difference between war propaganda and the realities of war itself?

I'm not one to say: well, you can't like a book if you don't like what happened in it.  If that were the case, there would be no books about incest, war, sexual assault, and a good number of other things.  But then again, when you have a book that is so graphic and so detailed...not only in elements of historical veracity, but also in details that are to do with the fictional world that she created...I don't know, maybe it takes someone with less sensitivity than me to read such things?  And if so, what is the point of writing them?  
In Jarhead, the military guy says: there's no such thing as an anti-war movie.  The military guys watch anti-war movies like they're porn, to get themselves hyped up for a battle.
I have a feeling that this book suggests to me there is a point where an anti-war, anti-violence-against-women book becomes itself an object of violence against women.  (The (male) commentator on the cover says: "Beautiful and devastating."  I wonder by what objective measure you can call this book beautiful?  There were parts, certainly--I read it because of the beginning, because of how Mengiste pulls you in and the character of Hirut is so strong and so compelling and so downtrodden, that you are already caring about her before you even have a chance...  but this book is not beautiful.  In fact, I hate that he calls it beautiful because in a way I find this story hugely patriarchal.  It says, it doesn't matter what you do to women, they will survive.  It doesn't matter how trashed they are by men, they will survive.  They won't be broken, they'll be survivors.  And I just have a little more rage left than that, this kind of "all-forgiving," very martyr-mother-Mary kind of legend, where at the end of it, she's still standing, as though that is okay, then, that we as human beings read all of the ravages done unto her and other women, we're still goddamn well forgiving the heinous crimes of the men around her, because she comes out triumphant.
I call bullshit.

The book jacket says this book is "an unputdownable exploration of female power."
I would have to say, at close of reading, that if that is the extent to which we can imagine female power, we are in major trouble.  It is an examination of power, certainly.  But an exploration of female power?  No.  It is overwhelmingly about male power and the will to exterminate and destroy.  It is about, as she says more than once in the book, those who are born to own things and those who are born to be owned.
 
I wanted to like this book so much more than I did.  I wanted to learn something about the history of Ethiopia that would help me understand what is happening in the Tigray, now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, War, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, Violence, Rape, Vomit, and Misogyny

Moderate: Child death

tenten's review

dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, and War

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death and Antisemitism

freundlichl's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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? N/A

5.0

For such a heavy subject, I was captivated. The prose is lyrical and gripping — i could not put it down 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, and Rape

zoes_human's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad

4.0

A beautifully written story of Ethiopia's fight against Mussolini's invasion. It is brutal and heartbreaking, but I don't think the truth of war can be told in any other way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

Minor: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Death, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

wngwendy's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

4.25

review to come

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Xenophobia and Antisemitism

athenaia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.75

The book is very challenging to read but beautifully written. However it is also not a book that is for light reading. The topics that are discussed were sometimes hard to deal with and I would recommend anyone who wants to read it to do it slowly and stop if it is too much for one day. In my opinion the book is a fantastic litterary work even though I needed half a year to finish it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and War

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative sad 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Rape, Violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Antisemitism

tabitha_isabelle's review

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence