Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

13 reviews

jakobmarleymommy's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Grief, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Vomit, Gore, Racism, and Sexual violence

bookishkellyn's review against another edition

challenging dark

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

I don’t even really understand what I just read–or what the point of the book was–so I’m withholding a numerical rating. The synopsis was accurate but really undersold how big a role the spirits played in the storyline. I almost felt like the spiritual element got more face time than the main character (Annis/Arese). It revolved heavily around the ambiguous nature of her ‘ancestral’ spirit (Aza). The vibe was ultra gloomy with fleeting tender moments from love interests (Safi & Bastian). If this hadn’t been a book club read, I would’ve DNF’d for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Rape, and Death

Minor: Excrement, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

kitta's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Rape

Moderate: Vomit

haley313's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.5

Gut-wrenching and emotionally taxing from start to finish, but written beautifully. I love Jesmyn Ward’s prose - it’s so raw and visceral. An important story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Racism, Rape, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

thecriticalreader's review

dark sad slow-paced

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

1.75

Context:

I chose Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward for my November 2023 Book of the Month pick. It is my second Jesmyn Ward book; I read Sing, Unburied, Sing a while back and loved it.

 

Review:

I had a lot of conflicting thoughts when reading Let Us Descend. Ward is an incredibly talented writer, and this book features many instances of her beautiful prose. I love the way she describes things—from the natural world to character descriptions, Let Us Descend is full of evocative word choices. On the other hand, the main character Annis and her central storyline felt flat to me. The story places a lot of emotional weight on Annis’s relationship with her mother and a fellow enslaved girl, but these relationships are hastily developed. Annis herself remains somewhat of a blank slate; I found the story’s side characters to be much more interesting.

 

In general, I liked the portions of the story in which Annis interacts with other people and disliked the portions that involved the spirit world. I’m not opposed to magical realism, but the fantasy elements in Let Us Descend really, really did not work for me. I cannot see what they contribute to Annis’s story or the thematic elements of the story as a whole. Naturally, the last part of the book, which follows Annis’s journey with the spirits, dragged for me. It felt like Ward used the last portion of the book as a personal emotional catharsis, and in the process lost sight of the story. 

 

The Run-Down: 

You might like Let Us Descend if . . . 

·      You want to read an empowering magical realism story about slavery that draws upon Dante’s Inferno

·      You appreciate beautiful sentences

 

You might not like Let Us Descend if . . . 

·      You disliked unexplained magical elements

·      You want a book with a well-written main character and a tightly constructed plot 

·      You don’t want to read descriptions that border on body horror

 

A Similar Book: 

Trinity by Zelda Lockhart. 

Similarities include:

·      Magical realism/Black Americans haunted by spirits

·      Lyrical writing

·      Thematic exploration of the power of maternal love and intergenerational strength

 

Key Differences include:

·      Trinity takes place in the twentieth century, Let Us Descend in the nineteenth

·      Trinity features three POVs, whereas Let Us Descend has one POV

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Body horror, Death, Racism, and Vomit

Moderate: Incest, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

zalouis's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Racism, Rape, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Torture, Physical abuse, Confinement, Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

booksandabackpack's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Racism

sarah_sunshine9's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Vomit and Blood

mamaofperfectpayton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

3.75

Absolutely excellent writing - beautiful descriptions that made me feel like I was there. But it was a book about slavery, which made it difficult to read and I didn’t want to feel like I was there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Slavery, and Violence

mariavdl's review

dark sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Slavery, Trafficking, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Pregnancy, Animal death, Vomit, Excrement, and Death of parent