Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

6 reviews

jalexpulliamkepler's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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

An absolute gut punch of a novel with possibly the best ending I’ve ever read. Loses just a smidge for some craft issues that are more than understandable given that this is Adjei-Brenyah’s debut novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Grief, Homophobia, Violence, Mental illness, Cursing, Death, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Classism, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Gore, Child abuse, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Deportation, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Alcohol, and Car accident

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Chronic illness

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Confinement, Self harm, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Suicide, Mental illness, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Classism, Hate crime, Transphobia, Car accident, Gun violence, Infidelity, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Ableism

tinyplanet's review

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Torture, Murder, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Blood

Minor: Antisemitism, Infidelity, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Classism, Cursing, Homophobia, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Alcohol, Death of parent, Deportation, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape

dominiq_ec's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

I mean, this is just one of the best books I've read in a while. Considering another dystopian / apolalyptic favorite of mine, Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin, its so rooted in human rights issues in the United States, and is just dystopian enough to convince you that we may not see this come to fruition. But what if we do? How will you think? 

I thought that Thurwar and Staxxx both died at the end, but I was wrong and now my heart is broken.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Suicide, Cancer, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Cursing, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Blood, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Torture, and Self harm

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Hate crime, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Car accident

I mean, this book does force you to take a relatively deep look at the United States penal system, which does include reading about the crimes some of these characters committed, as well as how they are (mis)treated by those that are responsible for their care. At the same time, these incarcerated folks are fighting to the death for entertainment's sake, so there's a lot of gory, violent descriptions. There is mentions of rape, but no graphic details. There is torture, and loss of life. It's a troubling book, so read with caution.

lycheejelly's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexism, Self harm, Racism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Medical content, and Medical trauma

caseythereader'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

5.0

Thanks to Pantheon Books for the free advance copy of this book.

 - How does one even begin to review a book like CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS? I knew Adjei-Brenyah's debut novel would be something to behold, and even then all my expectations were blown away.
- This is a sci-fi novel, but it's also an abolitionist text. The way something awful will happen to a character and then there's a footnote with the U.S. law that makes the action legal...whew.
- Adjei-Brenyah makes the reader stay in uncomfortable places, both of physical brutality and of mental work. The lines we like to draw between "good" and "bad" people are smashed here, with the aim to bring the whole system down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicide, Grief, Child death, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Self harm, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape