Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

50 reviews

amarks's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Racism, Suicide, Self harm, Racial slurs, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Blood, Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization

catdogcatdog's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

“I thought of how the world can be anything, and how sad it is that it’s this. “

I read this book last month, and it’s on my mind often.  It’s particularly chilling how little had to be changed in the world this story takes place for televised prisoner death matches to feel so plausible. 

I was struck by how realistic the reactions of people with different relationships to the “sport” felt. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Racism

joensign's review

challenging dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Police brutality, Racism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, Suicide, Child death, Murder, Torture, and Death

Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Body horror, and Domestic abuse

rainbopagn's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

This is a book that will make you rethink everything you feel and know about the American justice system. This should be required reading. The way you go back and forth between perspectives and the way they come together in the final pages... its beautiful storytelling. It is also vicious and violent, much like the real life justice system. The way the author pulls in real people and real statistics is an homage to those who have been unfairly and unjustly treated.  


SPOILERS in
3

2

1

I am more than a little pissed that Thurwar killed Staxxx. I had expected them to go out together, mortally wounding each other. I understand the meaning of the full circle moment but it still annoyed me.     

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Police brutality, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Self harm, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Hate crime

Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Ableism, Rape, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Infidelity

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Cursing

hspooner8's review

dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Classism, Confinement, Murder, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Rape, Self harm, and Slavery

princess_marie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Torture, Death, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicide, and Self harm

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, and Domestic abuse

ukponge's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Racial slurs, Murder, Grief, Rape, Police brutality, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, Suicide, Blood, Racism, Sexual harassment, Confinement, and Cursing

joanna_banana's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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

5.0

I’d give this 6 stars if I could! It’s a work of genius. To wrap abolitionist principles and facts about the prison industrial complex in a novel with powerful characters you grow to love is an incredible feat. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah paints gruesome scenes with his words that are just one step further down our current reality of extractive late stage capitalist economy and torture factories that are American prisons. The commercialization of death and the “influencer” status the Links have is not surprising but such a skewering of corporate America. The Board room scene! Ah. The contrasting relationships and chapters from different perspectives added so much. He challenges what you may think about incarcerated people. The violence made me squeamish but it’s a wake up call to realize the violence exerted on primarily BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ people every day by soldier-police and the prison system. This is a must read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Self harm, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Torture, Grief, Confinement, and Violence

sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

4.5

I don't know if "enjoyed" is the right word to describe my experience with this, as it was a rollercoaster, with some very intense scenes at times, but I thought this was a very interesting book that was well-constructed and made the points it was aiming to make well. Just make sure to check content warnings before reading.

There were some very good and interesting conversations and points throughout this book on the prison system (in the USA, specifically) and the treatment of incarcerated humans, as well as demographics of people more likely to be subject to these things. As a non-American, I thought the footnotes were useful to provide context and outline some of the hypocrisy in the system and judgements made. They were also used sparingly so didn't interrupt the overall flow of the story.

There were many points of view, but I found I followed them all well and I liked how we got the intersection of all these stories by the end. I have seen people say they got confused listening to the audio, but personally, having read the book with my eyes, I thought it was easy to follow who the character of interest was each chapter. I think the multiple POVs gave a lot of context to the dystopian world and really hit home the shocking nature of the death games, and how involved the community is.

The characters in here were really interesting. I appreciated how we saw them as human, but their crimes were never pushed to the background. It was a really good way of showing that even people who have committed crimes are human and have the ability to think, feel and change in some circumstances. It was a good way of furthering some of the points made in the book, particulalry about the death penalty and solitary confinement.

The only real thing I wanted more from was the ending. I read it and was like "that's it?", though I did go back and reread the last chapter and it did feel a little more solid of an ending the second time when I knew I was on the last chapter. I'm just not a huge lover of an open ending, so I personally would've liked to see a little more resolution, particularly in the other storylines. But part of me also thinks maybe the point was that, as much as the others fight, it's not going to nicely resolve in such a short period of time. I think I'll be pondering this ending for a while, either way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Self harm, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Domestic abuse

michelleabdanan's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Dark, haunting, brilliant, necessary, and absolutely devastating. The ending will stick with me for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, and Police brutality

Moderate: Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Racism, Homophobia, Confinement, and Sexual assault