Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Root Magic by Eden Royce

19 reviews

kristinajean's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Bullying, and Murder

saracat's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad 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? No

4.75

This book gave me so much to think about. And I definitely got close to tears a few times as well. It was a powerful story. The author’s note at the end talking about Gullah people and some of their family enforced how important this and stories like it are. 

I loved the main character Jez, but the adult in me sometimes wanted her to not take certain risks or actions without her mother or uncle there. But, I think if I would a kid reading this, that would never cross my mind. And she is an amazing kid. I just think that despite not having my own kids, I can relate to the concern her mom and uncle showed. 

I also loved how Jez’s compassion and kindness are highlighted in the story. But also show how her anger, hurt, and frustration don’t leave her immune from having darker thoughts at times as well. 

The way Royce brought the novel full circle was very beautiful. I definitely want to see if they’ve written anything else. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Bullying

Minor: Death of parent

The book is set in the 1960s in the US when laws didn’t protect black people and law enforcement were more explicit in their aggression towards black people as well. These realities are part of the story.

dominicangirl's review

dark emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Racism and Police brutality

careinthelibrary's review

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Root Magic is great! I liked the two siblings and the whole cast of characters. The history that was incorporated into the story was fantastic and done naturally. I appreciated this one and will look forward to reading something else from this author in the future. Some really cool imagery and a world that I won't soon forget. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, Racism, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Murder

cozylifewithabby's review against another edition

4.0

Review held due to the strike 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Bullying

ofpagesandparagraphs's review

adventurous dark 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? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime and Police brutality

Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, and Racism

jojo_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Racism, Bullying, Hate crime, and Police brutality

Moderate: Death of parent and Grief

Minor: Animal cruelty, Murder, and Animal death

vasha's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

4.5

I needed something immersive, and this story set in the 1963 Sea Islands was just the thing. I may've been briefly distracted by a few didactic moments, but after all, to the narrator, 11-year-old Jezebel Turner, learning about her ancestral traditions is important: a connection to her departed grandmother, transmitted by her beloved uncle, and necessary for her emotional survival through stressful times. The (brief) lectures are scattered among a whirlwind of events (cool to read about, tough to live through) and grounded in an excellent family. Hours after finishing the book I still feel like I'm living with Jez and her brother, mother, and uncle. 

And, of course, it's magic. In learning root work, you might say Jez is attending magical school -- a serious school with high stakes. She also attends regular school, where the other girls sneer at her for the backwardness of belonging to a family of witch doctors (her uncle says the proper term is root worker, but he doesn't mind at all being called a witch doctor). One strand of the story is launched when Jez works some magic to try to get a friend. As if this wasn't stressful enough, on top of her grandmother's death, the lingering uncertainty of her father's disappearance a few years before, and the feeling that she's growing apart from her twin brother Jay, she has to cope with supernatural creatures that want to feed off her magic and, worse, the local policeman, Deputy Collins, who's been carrying on a program of harassment and violence against any Black people said to be doing root work. Although Collins is satisfactorily dealt with (not before leaving behind traumatic damage) we never learn why he's acting as he is. But, as another Black character rightly put it in a book I read earlier this year, "Who knows why white people do anything?" Nothing obliges Collins to explain himself. The supernatural beings turn out to be more approachable and understandable than he is. Nonetheless, the times are full of hope for an improvement in racial relations, with President Kennedy insisting on integration and, locally, the arrival of a reform-minded sheriff. 

There's so much to like in this book: not just the "chills and thrills" but the wonderful characters (Jez's mother is especially excellent), the sights, sounds and smells of the farm and the tidal marsh, and Jez's description of the feeling of being supported by her community and her ancestors, especially in the moving final chapter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Grief, Bullying, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Murder, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Slavery, Animal cruelty, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Animal death

f18's review

emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, and Police brutality

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Gun violence, and Racism

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, and Violence

drowning

booksandtea997's review

adventurous mysterious 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Racism

Moderate: Bullying and Death