Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga

28 reviews

lwimberlyr's review

emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Racism

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Death, Grief, Gun violence, and Mass/school shootings

booked_on_phonics's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Islamophobia, Grief, Death, Suicide, and Gun violence

boxofdelights's review

hopeful sad medium-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

3.5

I wish that the two girls' voices were more different from each other, and more like how they describe themselves: that we could <b>see</b> Cora's trouble with metaphors, and Quinn's trouble with linear narrative. But that is an adult criticism, and this is a middle-grade book.

As a kid, I would have been disappointed that after all that setup, there was no actual magic. This is definitely a "Friendship was the real magic all along!" book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Child death, and Gun violence

kshertz's review

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This is a hard read because it’s a fictional story about the families left behind after a school shooters violent rampage. As a teacher, it was a window into perspectives and how to help students with this new reality. It was sad and jarring to read this fictional story and see our new reality. I feel like this story wouldn’t track outside of America. But for me it was a good read to process emotions about teaching during a time when mass shootings have been accepted as a society and my possibly death less important than another’s ability to own a gun. I was thankful for the book for helping me process that and think about how to create that safe space for students who might have endured something like this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Child death, and Mass/school shootings

innastholiel's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Gun violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Bullying, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Suicide

lovelymisanthrope's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

This is a beautiful novel that follows two young girls following the loss of their siblings. Cora and Quinn grew up next door to one another and have been best friends since they were toddlers. Almost a year ago to the day Quinn's brother took a gun to school and killed five people, including Cora's sister. Cora has not been able to be around Quinn because she feels like it is a betrayal to her sister. Quinn wants to make everything better and has begun to research how to time travel, so she can go back to the day it all went wrong. 
Told in duel perspectives, "The Shape of Thunder" explores grief and forgiveness following devastating tragedy. It also explores themes of racism, which were both heartbreaking and inspiring to see. 
This book is definitely written for a younger audience, and it is a very quick read, but I thoroughly enjoyed this story. This is a great novel for someone in middle school to read, if they are looking to diversify their reading! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Abandonment

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Murder, Gun violence, and Child death

jcesch's review

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mass/school shootings and Gun violence

rachaelthegiraffe's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-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

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Suicide, Islamophobia, Racism, and Mass/school shootings

lizzyc_16's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative 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? Yes

3.0

So this book was pretty good. It made me cry, it made me smile, it made me throw the book across the room. I do have a few problems though.

I thought it was a bit cringey at times, and the plot was kind of pointless by the end. 

The end was... not great but overall I thought it was a decent and definitely sad, relatable story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Gun violence

Moderate: Islamophobia, Toxic friendship, and Racial slurs

Minor: Cursing and Bullying