Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

5 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

Like most books on slavery, this was emotionally hard to read. But it was beautifully written, and I loved Annis and even Aza. I have hope for Annis.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery

beccacondon's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Torture, Rape, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Racism

ka_cam's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? No

4.5

Brutal and lyrical, follows a young woman born into US slavery and sold down the river after her mother and with, though quickly separated from, her lover. Spirit-ful and spiritual reflections on grief, intergenerational trauma, mother’s love, the connections between people, places and times. Good, heartbreaking, read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Slavery, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Confinement, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, and Sexism

memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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? No

3.75

this story was so poetically written, it was beautiful to read.
it wasn’t too long, the perfect time to tell the story as needed without dragging on.
annis’ story is just so tragic and you think it can’t get worse but it continues to do so.
although difficult this was a really important read; exploring a young woman’s perseverance through loss, grief and insurmountable odds, with magical realism interwoven through the pages to provide hope and guidance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Xenophobia, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Racism, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Rape, and Pedophilia

Minor: Suicide, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Sexual content, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Suicide attempt

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? No

4.25

Thanks to Scribner Books for the free copy of this book.

 - LET US DESCEND takes the framework of Dante's INFERNO and applies it to the story of a young enslaved girl. As you might expect, this book is dark and often horrific read, but in Ward's hands the story gives us both the beauty and the pain of Annis, the people she encounters, and the landscape she inhabits.
- This book is a study in the many forms grief can take, both on personal and community-wide levels, born both out of pain and love.
- Personally, I wished for a little more detail on the spirits Annis encountered, but that might just be the sci-fi/fantasy reader in me, I always want more there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Alcohol, Animal death, Grief, Blood, Rape, Slavery, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Vomit, Physical abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts