Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Book of Night Women by Marlon James

23 reviews

jessi_lou95's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Excrement, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Death, Colonisation, Gore, Sexual violence, Child death, Torture, Murder, Blood, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Sexual assault

sereyn's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Colonisation, Death, Violence, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Excrement, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury

averyjpub's review

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed the story, loved that it was written the way it was, from the perspective of a slave who would not speak the colonizer’s language perfectly in 1700s Jamaica, but I was expecting more about the night women and even in the end when there’s emphasis that this was about the night women I feel let down that there wasn’t actually more about them individually. I think you learn more about them in the last chapters than any other time. I don’t particularly like Lilith, she is a complicated character but she doesn’t feel like a fleshed out character to me. The character and the character’s thoughts don’t seem connected to the actions which makes for incredulity when she does the things she does. For instance, defending her father. Worth a read but falls flat in some places. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

constancetheeacademic's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

James does a wonderful job of showing how colonialism affects the psychology of those who are enslaved. He crafts an engrossing tale of how the seeds of rebellion are sewn within a community of women on a Caribbean plantation. He also subtly emphasizes the importance of religion and the oral tradition are among the enslaved.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Sexual violence

mereadme's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Rape, Violence, Death, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, and Racism

amris's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Colonisation, Racism, Torture, Rape, Slavery, Death, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

polyphonic_reads's review against another edition

dark 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Gore, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, and Genocide

cass_lit's review against another edition

2.25

I may be in the minority here, but I hated this. I would have DNF’d if I didn’t own a physical copy and I started it for a readathon. But by the end, I was listening to the audio on 3x speed. 

I don’t think I can pick out exactly why I hated it so much. The book isn’t intended to be pleasant or enjoyable — it’s a book about slave women. There are all of the trigger warnings you would expect: violence, rape, racism (verbal and physical), etc. I knew that going in. Beyond that, I expected a different focus of the book. Maybe this was my mistake, but I thought there would be a little bit of magical realism element. I also knew Lilith would be the main character, but I thought the other “Night Women” would play a more important role. I thought their planning and community would be the focus, rather than Lilith’s internal struggles and questions. And it sucks, but I just hated Lilith. I get that she’s young when we start following her. I get that she’s literally never had a free choice or opportunity. I get that she’s born into hell and generational trauma and was made to be stronger than she ever should’ve had to be. But GOD is she ANNOYING. I was rolling my eyes at her constantly and by the end wanted to scream out loud at her to fight. 

Unfortunately, maybe it’s Marlon James and I that don’t mesh well. I also wanted to DNF Black Leopard, Red Wolf and by the end of that was at 3x speed audio as well. People loved that one too but it  wasn’t for me; I thought maybe a different genre would work better (it didn’t). And I’m not saying it can’t ever be done or done well, but there’s something about reading very explicit scenes with the rape of women that were written by men that really take me out of the story. 

The 0.25 was added at the end when you find out who the narrator is. I liked that twist. Also a little unique thing I enjoyed was all of the character names and their allegories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Racism, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Slavery, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Drug abuse

waybeyondblue's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Death, War, Racism, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Violence, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Torture

Moderate: Blood, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness

writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Book of Night Women by Marlon James 🔥
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

🔥 The plot: Told in Jamaican dialect, The Book of Night Women is the story of Lilith, a woman born into slavery on a sugar plantation at the end of the eighteenth century. Lilith has a dark power inside her that the other women sense from her birth. They want to enlist her in their plot for revolt, but Lilith's dreams of transcending her position do not align neatly with theirs.

I don't know where to begin reviewing this book. I should say upfront, as if the setting on a slave plantation weren't enough to tell you: this is a brutal read. Currents of violence seethe below the surface of even the calmer passages, erupting in moments of breathtaking cruelty that you'll be thinking about long after reading.

Lilith is one of the most frustrating characters I've ever read. She is not an avatar for the modern reader; she is vain, selfish, and often acts stupidly. There are many moments where you want to reach into the pages and shake her. Don't have a crush on the plantation owner, he's evil! Listen to Homer, she's your only ally! And yet, her thoughts and actions are entirely understandable, even inevitable, given her experiences, and it's gut-wrenching when she cannot outrun the inhuman violence doled out by her masters.

James also gives depth and nuance to the particular evils of each person involved in slavery, from the white men who use it to sate their desires to the white women whose protected femininity is shaped in contrast to enslaved black women. He challenges the reader to resist the common narratives around slavery - ones focusing on love, or justice, or creating a false sense of closure to this period of history - instead creating a sweeping story of strength and survival that expanded my understanding of this period in time.

🔥 Read it if you're ready for all of the above, and want to read an outstanding book about slavery and colonisation that speaks back to established narratives.

🚫 Absolutely check TWs before reading if you might be triggered, as there are loads of them. If you struggle reading books written in dialect, perhaps opt for the audiobook

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Grief, Violence, Colonisation, Rape, Torture, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Slavery, Racism, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail