Reviews tagging 'Racism'

No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull

13 reviews

leweylibrary's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

1.5

Listen I know I've heard good things about this book and probably know people who would like it, but it was not for me. I was bored out of my mind and almost DNF'd it at least twice. I wanted to like it so badly though because the premise is so freaking cool! Ugh.

I was about 80 pages in and just nothing was really happening, it felt like build up on build up for a bunch of different characters that are starting to overlap. The time period everything is happening is confusing, and I'm still not sure I understand what the big thing that happened even is? I love the premise, but the execution was so weird in the most pretentious way. Writing confusing shit is not cute or fun if people don't understand it. Stop trying to be a big, bad, cool writer who's elevated and throwing out literary devices and shit left and write. Just write something people want to read. 

At about 90 pages in, a big thing did happen, and I was like okay, now we're getting somewhere. Aaaand then it would switch characters and we'd be back to getting nowhere. It somehow felt like the ENTIRE book was a lead up to the second book and that's just insane to me. I finished the last 50 pages or so out of spite tbh. 

Quotes:

• (I I could break my neck, ) she remembered thinking as she flew down the stairs, her heart thumping in her chest like a wild animal attacking its cage. She remembered wanting to so badly, relishing every moment that her foot landed on the nosing of each step, the worn souls of her shoes sliding dangerously across the knife's edge of each miniature cliff. She could break her neck and she wouldn't have to burn this horror out of her. She wouldn't have to be a good daughter. She wouldn't have to be anything at all. She could be cracked stone and fine soil. She could be a bed of weeds. (133)
• "We're all blind," he says after swallowing. "Take solace in that. Choice comes first. Meaning comes later." (279)
• The chant is an evolution of an anarchist slogan: "no gods, no. Masters," the original version meaning( I know human above.( It is meant as a call against hierarchy. Ridley assumes that this variation means( i no human above, no human below,( or something like it. A call against hierarchy and discrimination. (327)
• As he walks with the crowd, he understands what he had forgotten: that a march is not just a voice against violence and trauma, but also a reminder that even in a cause that is stacked against them, no one is alone. (327)
• There's something beautiful and devastating about the sight. Ridley feels small against it: the marvels of nature and human beings, intruding on one another; massive systems that existed before he was born and will continue long after he is dead. What can anyone do against them? The voices around him provide an answer. Like ants, perhaps enough human bodies can form a critical mass, becoming a marvel capable of great things, even against obstacles calcified through years of accumulated resource and power. Maybe. More often than not, Ridley has seen this fail to provide any change. But the effort has value for those fleeting moments when success can be snatched for the side of good. (327)
• Even has things change, much stays the same, She thinks. Other tragedies are already queued up for their entrance. (334)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Murder, Racism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, and Police brutality

siriface's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Police brutality, and Mass/school shootings

lakea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Hate crime, Bullying, Cursing, Gun violence, Cannibalism, and Confinement

bufffreeman22's review against another edition

I will finish this book eventually. Because it is really good, but I tense and triggering for someone who just helped their partner through surviving cancer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Cancer

booksthatburn's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Racism, and Police brutality

Minor: Racial slurs, Sexual content, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

azrah786's review against another edition

4.25

 **I received an ARC from Titan Books in exchange for an honest review**

CW: violence, gun violence/mass shootings, blood, gore, body horror, injury, death, death of parent/loved one, animal death, murder, suicide, police brutality, hate crime, drug abuse/addiction, alcohol, confinement, cannibalism, child abuse, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, grief, transphobia, racism, xenophobia
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No Gods, No Monsters is the addictive beginning to a new supernatural/paranormal urban fantasy series. In this story filled with both magic and science, an event denoted as The Fracture sees monsters and creatures from myths and legends being chased out of the shadows and living openly amongst humans as a means of protection from some “other” threat.

Turnbull deftly blends the genres of science fiction, fantasy, horror and thriller together, and his prose perfectly encapsulates the eerie and dark vibe of the story throughout.
The combination of short chapters and a storyline laced with mystery makes this such a page turner. There are secret organisations and seers, shifters and gods but the sharp, underlying commentary on marginalised communities, human nature and the disbelief and blind ignorance people chase during times of change make this so much more than fiction.

There is an extensive cast of diverse and intriguing characters to follow which at times gets a little confusing. However, the multi pov narration also makes the book feel like an anthology of stories that are all subtly interconnected, with a greater overarching storyline connecting them all more fully happening in the background.
We also have a unnamed narrator to follow that pops up within these individual stories and honestly just wanting to figure out who this mysterious figure observing all of the character is, is just one of the unputdownable elements of the book.

A perfect read for spooky season but also one that can be enjoyed all year round.
Final Rating – 4.25/5 Stars 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Suicide, Hate crime, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Child abuse, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Animal death, Transphobia, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Xenophobia

jjreads331's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

This gets a 3 because a lot of the writing was absolutely gorgeous. However, I did not connect to any of the characters and I couldn't care less about the story. Which is ultimately such a shame since the blurb is so interesting. It just what was described there wasn't the book that we got. Unfortunately, it was a lackluster beginning to a series I will not be continuing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Cannibalism, and Racism

jjelliacee's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.5

I'll just be here patiently waiting for book 2 because this book left me with more questions than answers and I need to know more about how each of the characters are connected with each other

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Racism

marcostorin's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? N/A

5.0

This book is amazing anarchist fiction. I don't know if the author considers himself an anarchist, but that is irrelevant, the themes and how they're handled speak for themselves - and that's without mentioning obvious references at anarchism, like Ursula K Le Guin and the title itself. It hit me hard and I can't wait for the next two books of the trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Addiction, Death, Murder, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Cancer, Grief, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Torture, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cannibalism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Transphobia

gilnean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Deadnaming, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Eating disorder, and Vomit

Minor: Excrement, Sexual content, and Pedophilia