Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

16 reviews

_kathill's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gore, Infidelity, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Miscarriage, Racism, and Classism

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I only wish that the

comeuppance

deaths were more gory and protracted. It's what they deserved... Hmm. Maybe I relate to

Moremi

more than I initially thought. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Trafficking, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Murder, Sexual content, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Body horror, Car accident, and Death

Moderate: Trafficking, Cannibalism, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Rape, Gaslighting, and Sexual content

Minor: Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Deportation, Kidnapping, Vomit, Child death, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Cancer, Confinement, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Transphobia

kelsokake's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I had little to no idea what to expect when starting this book, but I was pleasantly surprised! This wasn't a light read at all. It's sci-fi set in an insanely patriarchal society that has like, built-in generational trauma. 
 

In our city, it is unwise to trust reality.
 
I have been betrayed by reality, betrayed by my subconscious, shipwrecked from reality.
 
Now every thought must be deceased from my mind before its birth. 

While it took me a while to get invested, once I was in it, I was in it. The last quarter of the book had me constantly gasping in surprise and while the metaphor/allegory got a little heavy-handed towards the end, I still found myself wanting to know what was going to happen. I would definitely check out other books by Tlotlo Tsamaase

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Infertility, Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Colonisation, Car accident, Body horror, Child death, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, and Miscarriage

Minor: Racism and Sexual violence

poisoned_icecream's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Sexual assault, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Car accident, and Gore

Moderate: Pregnancy, Incest, and Miscarriage

pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.5

 I almost didn't finish this one, the beginning is a bit of a grind. I also had a tough time with the extensive and weirdly timed internal monologues that really info-dumped the reader.

I did like the setting, concept, and progression of story and conspiracy- but the characters were a little flat or relied too much on the plot for development? Some decisions felt forcibly poor, like I feel no one with a concept of cause and effect would make the choices that happened in this story. Once the plot picked up, it was a wild ride and action packed, and as I said, full of conspiracy and also incorporated Botswanan mythology/pantheon. There are very lengthy interruptions of internal monologue, however, that at times had me struggling to remember what was even happening before it started.

Like a combination of Altered Carbon, Handmaid's Tale, and The Truman Show. Major commentary on bodily autonomy and misogyny, class privilege, but much of it got lost in the action.

I listened to this ALC via Libro.fm and thought Cristel Mutombo did a great job, her voice is dynamic and it was easy to differentiate between characters, she is super emotive!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Sexual content, Classism, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Violence, Alcohol, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Rape, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Gun violence and Transphobia

careinthelibrary's review

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

The last third was hard to follow but I was reading on a plane so I'm pretty sure that's the cause. Such cool worldbuilding and complex characters. Really compelling and interesting plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Drug use, Alcohol, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Body horror, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

'Womb City' by Tlotlo Tsamaase is a deeply reflective sci-fi book that delves into systems of power in a future Botswana. 
Nelah lives in a world where people's consciousness can be transferred into new bodies, allowing for far longer lifespans. She has been moved into a new body but one that is carefully monitored thanks to the microchip embedded within it. Despite this, she is successful, married, and looking to start a family. But more is brewing under the surface. She seeks pleasure outside of marriage and on a night out with the man she is having an affair with, a terrible accident occurs. Reeling from the events of that night, Nelah begins to see the ghost of the woman they wronged. Fleeing from what happened, she starts to unravel the truth of her city and what lies beneath. 
Tsamaase has created a cast of deeply flawed characters that aren't always the easiest to root for. Despite this, the futuristic world and the mysteries that surround it kept me engaged throughout. This is a fascinating and terrifying society, as you learn more about it. Tsamaase touches on a number of subjects from pregnancy and criminality to misogyny and autonomy. There are so many aspects to this book that it can be overwhelming at times. I think the author may have tried to cram a bit too much in (in themes and in plot points) but overall, I was engaged and interested to see what happens. I believe this is a debut and I cannot wait to see what this author does next. Their world building and themes are fascinating and I'm interested to see how this is developed further in future works.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Alcohol, Body horror, Misogyny, Car accident, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexism, Death, Murder, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity

Moderate: Rape

planet_taffy's review

challenging dark emotional informative 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? Yes

5.0

Womb City is a heavy book that handles gender politics and crimes against women in a deeply intersectional way. I was continually impressed with the new layers Tsamaase brought to the issue leaving no stone unturned in xer dissection of male privilege and the way it's used to enact violence on everyone else.

It terms of the sci-fi elements, Tsamaase's future Botswana is also full of layers from artificial immortality through "body-hopping" to the many tools of surveillance and control giving us the dynamic of second class citizens through "microchipped people". Xe is pretty good about explaining new technologies each time they come up so that, by the time they're super important to the plot, you're quite familiar with them.

All in all it's a rewarding read, even if the verbiage is a bit hard to get through on the first pass. Nothing in the book is a throwaway, making the ending one of the most satisfying I've read. My only complaint is that I wish less scenes had taken place in the car.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Misogyny, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Blood, Death, Sexism, Death of parent, Violence, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Miscarriage, and Child death

Minor: Kidnapping and Pregnancy

These are pulled from the frontmatter of the book. Sensitive topics are used with purpose, but there is quite a bit of gore & body horror.

shay43geek's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Bullying, Body shaming, Death, Body horror, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Infertility, Misogyny, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Gaslighting, Gore, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence

2treads's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

2.0

Tsamaase has something here with this futurisric, dystopic-touched novel. But what fatigued me with this one was the bloated plot tgat tackled too many societal themes without giving me the satisfactionof querying and exploring them fully to be affected. Throuh what feels like diary entries more than intercations and converstaions we are shown a society that has essentially imprisoned women in surveillance-heavy relationships or just by existing. 


The onus of violece and criminal behaviour has solely been placed at their feet and they have to undergo invasive mind sweeps every day as well as being profiled after a certain period to ascertain their level of commiting a criminal act. Here we are looking at body autonomy, violence, intimate partner surveillance, patriarcyy, state surveillance and overreach; all in the name of protecting the women and by extension their families. 


Along the way we drip into sexual abuse, trafficking, sexual exploitation, forced sex work through mind control, brief mention of ancestral beliefs, rape, reproductive shaming, economic and political corruption all wrapping their tentacles around this plot, this strangling my enjoyment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Gore, Rape, Grief, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Trafficking, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Sexism, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault