Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

67 reviews

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This will probably be a 5 star when I reread it one day. Wow. It's a complex story, feels epic in scale, but also has relatable and realistic characters. My new favourite Nnedi Okorafor book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Hate crime, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Racism, Death, and Sexism

Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcohol, Slavery, Blood, Infidelity, Death of parent, Body shaming, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Bullying, War, and Fire/Fire injury

Female genital mutilation

bites_of_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Dr. Nnedi Okorafor writes the most interesting characters and hasn't failed for me yet. 

Here we follow Onyesonwu throughout her life as she goes through many trials to find out exactly what it is that is her purpose. Onye is a child of rape and is discriminated against because of her mixed heritage, which can be easily seen on her features. Set in a far future Sudan, this novel still carries issues that have been known in the region, such as weaponized rape, child soldiers, violence against women, racism, etc. 

I really appreciated how Okorafor built the spiritual and magical aspects of the story. In many ways, they reminded me of magical realism as well as showed me a completely different way to think about ancestors and the way that people can be connected via their spiritual beliefs. 

Overall what it came down to were the characters. I love it when characters aren't just the idealized hero and the perfect side characters. They are all flawed in different ways, they might be stubborn, be incredibly impatient, or even let their carnal desires take over when they might need to prioritize other things in their lives. 

All in all, if you want to see a completely different take on fantasy that features a strong woman and also strong supporting partner and companions, do check this out. Do take the content warnings seriously before reading though! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, War, and Violence

lauraportalupi's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Violence

rattykatty's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Torture

catalyst226's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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? Yes

3.75

Full of vivid imagery and a much heavier subject matter than other novels I've read by this author. I really love that Okorafor brings in a lot of cultural pieces that I'm not necessarily familiar with and weaves them into these stories.

This was also a much denser novel than others I've read from this author. There are quite a few chapters that don't necessarily add to the plot but definitely add the the characters lives and atmosphere of the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Rape, and Death

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Vomit and Excrement

haydensister's review against another edition

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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Sexual violence

blackbird2210's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

 Beautifully written. The world building, magical elements, and character relationship are amazing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Blood, Colonisation, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, War, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Grief

vasi83177's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and War

Moderate: Violence and Misogyny

Minor: Slavery, Racism, and Genocide

voidgif's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

3.25

The first 1/3 of this book was a very challenging read for me. I didn’t find myself invested in the story or characters until the halfway mark and even then didn’t start to enjoy the book until a bit later. The magic system and world are interesting enough to keep anyone interested. I’m hoping the HBO adaptation makes some changes like lessening the amount of graphic amount of sexual assault and also making that characters a bit more interesting/likable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

Moderate: Violence and Racism

essireads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Slavery, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and War