Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

12 reviews

timtellsstories's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Beautifully written and ultimately moving, she lost me in a few key moments of conflict and tension because she leans too heavily on her poetry when I need her to deliver precise prose. As a result, I didn't understand some of the fallout of those conflict points. Further, I didn't feel like I got to know many of the characters well, not even Anissa. Liked it, didn't love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Trafficking, Slavery, Confinement, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny and Torture

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

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

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

christine_s's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

Loved the prose and writing style, completing drew me in from the beginning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Rape, and Slavery

Moderate: Kidnapping, Hate crime, and Gore

qkitten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Slavery, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Violence, Death of parent, Torture, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy and Homophobia

kaiyakaiyo's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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

3.5

this book was well-written, enjoyable even, but not necessarily one I’d rate highly or recommend, as it felt like it was missing something  

this book is more of a character study than a story, which I didn’t expect. Annis is an interesting, incredible woman, and I love her bi/pan existence- no unnecessary waffling about why she likes who she likes, just love of all shapes and kinds with multiple genders. platonic, romantic, etc. very refreshing, especially for a historical time period. The book is very very slow to start, and even slower to really move beyond just plain suffering and pain for Annis, but you come to love as care for her as the few events unfold. I do mean few events- this book bristles with emotion, but there is not a lot “happening”. I wasn’t opposed to that per se, but it took me a bit to stop going “so when does she do stuff ?”

the prose is lovely- it reminded me of reading their eyes were watching god. a treat for the eyes, with many phrases i turned over in my mind out of pure enjoyment. the author clearly dedicates a lot of time to style, even if it is at the expense of structure/pacing. 

the spiritual aspect of this book was oddly developed. there was so much teeming under the surface, but the parts we saw were rushed and half-explained. some of that could be attributed to the fact that as a slave, Annis has to rebuild her history and understanding of spirits from word of mouth info from her mother, and glimpses from the Water (?)— things are half-explained, because she is having to piece them together on her own. that being said, sometimes it just felt like the author wasn’t sure how to link all the pieces together and just kinda threw a spiritual universe in without thinking deeply on its structure. i often find that literary/speculative books struggle with the fantasy-adjacent aspects of their stories, because they don’t spend as much developing the world behind them. I think that is what is at play here 

as a result, the ending felt… disjointed. Annis goes from mostly confusion & fear in the face of spirits to being able to command and manipulate them over the span of a chapter or two, and it led to such a strange conclusion. Annis deserves peace and love, and i liked that aspect of it, but it felt like the author got tired of lead-up and just short-circuited Annis directly to it. i got to the last page and was like ? already ?

for that reason, this book is a 3.5 for me. very beautiful, sad, and profound, Annis was a heartfelt, incredible character, and the prose is lovely, but ultimately the lack of structure in some elements and rushed ending left me a bit dissatisfied. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Death, Slavery, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Excrement, Grief, Rape, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Blood

Minor: Incest and Suicidal thoughts

ginabelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.0

An essential and uncomfortable read depicting American slavery, sprinkled with supernatural elements. The spirits were a little beyond me at times, but the concept of descending into hell to hone your weapons, wit, and power of self to ultimately ascend into true freedom (in every sense) was so beautiful!! This was my first Jesmyn Ward book and she is amazing!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Sexual harassment

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

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