Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Falling Back in Love with Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls by Kai Cheng Thom

9 reviews

moonyreadsbystarlight's review

emotional reflective

3.75

Some poems were quite strong, others I had a hard time with. The style was a bit repetitive for the bulk of the poems, but I did like the prompts after each poem - that was interesting and had some that I think I'll revisit and do. I think I'm just a little too jaded to really appreciate this. Maybe I will try it again when I am feeling more optimistic but I had a hard time getting into parts of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Murder, and Physical abuse

sabrinalefebvre's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

So much more joy and hope than I was expecting in this! Such beautiful writing and prose!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Hate crime and Death

Minor: Murder

arakwordmaven's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

When I despair at the ignorance, intolerance, self-righteousness and suffering in the world, this book helps me remember that freedom, beauty, kindness, and love are also here. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Grief

kimapede's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Minor: Transphobia, Murder, Death, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Rape, and Stalking

meganpbell's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

What do you do when the world threatens your belief that all beings are worthy of love? In this powerful collection of poems, prayers, and spells, a Chinese Canadian transwoman writes to reclaim her love of being human, through  tender and intense letters addressed to such diverse recipients as J. K. Rowling, johns, and Jesus Christ, to fellow trans femmes, to the church of social justice, to compulsive caregivers, and many more, each with a suggested action, my favorite being: “Think of someone you’d like to punish….send them a book of poetry instead.” Read this brief book to fall back in love with being human—it begins by falling in love with the powerful, spiritually wise, and redemptive words of Kai Cheng Thom.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Gun violence, and Homophobia

annajoyreed93's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

“the secret of resilience is the art of surrender.”
from to a lost sister

“a child who keeps secrets to survive becomes a solider in their soul.”
from to the Animorphs

“i was seven years old when I told my first lie, and i still remember how it tasted: salty, savory, delicious, dirty, divine, dangerous, powerful, like freedom. how it came from nowhere, from the empty air, from a secret place inside my body that i’d never even known was there. how it felt electric, alive, like turning a key in a lock and stepping into the light. here was magic. here was escape. here was the power to twist reality with nothing but words, abracadabra alakazam, through the act of speaking, i create. here was shapeshifting, becoming someone else. with a lie you become lovable, at least for a while, until you’re discovered and everything turns to dust once again.”
from to the confabulists 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Transphobia, Murder, Sexual assault, Racism, Homophobia, Death, Suicide, and Rape

spec_tacles's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Body shaming, Grief, Transphobia, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Murder, Misogyny, and Hate crime

caseythereader's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

Thanks to The Dial Press for the free copy of this book.

 - FALLING BACK IN LOVE WITH BEING HUMAN is a small gem of a book. It's a series of letters and poems to fellow humans interspersed with prompts for reflecting on these subjects and caring for yourself.
- Thom writes to everyone from fellow trans women to TERFs. Each piece is meditative and filled with love for the humans under the masks. Even when the rage boils through, there is still love at the center of this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Misogyny, Hate crime, Murder, and Transphobia

booktribe's review

challenging hopeful reflective

3.0

This beautifully written collection of letters explores what happens when we imagine loving the people, and the parts of ourselves, that we don’t believe are worthy of love and acceptance. 

I enjoyed this novel. I loved the writing, it was very lyrical, I highlighted several quotes. Some of my favorite letters were “to the deathwalkers”, “to the johns”, “to a trans femme of color child from a trans femme of color ancestor”, and “to me, from a revolutionary trans femme of color living in the distant future”. I also really enjoyed that there were activities for reflection, self love, etc. after each letter.

I’d recommend this to anyone who loves poetry! Poetry is usually hit or miss for me, so I think I would’ve appreciated it more if I was more of poetry person.

Thank you Random House and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: suicidal ideation and attempt, homophobic slurs, rape, murder 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Rape

Minor: Suicide attempt and Murder