Reviews tagging 'Death'

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

35 reviews

mblanke's review against another edition

emotional funny tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

cococorycollins's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Racism, Police brutality, and Death of parent

knotekerin's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

3.75

not the easiest read but the character development made it worth the effort. plus i needed to know if Carney would get away with it all. Whitehead is an incredible writer

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Classism

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark reflective tense

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

zara89's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Police brutality

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

tigertheory's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Just didn’t draw me in like Whitehead’s other books. As an EFL speaker, it was hard to keep up with all the dated slang at times and I have to be honest – sometimes I didn’t know what was going on at all. 
In terms  of style though, Whitehead portrays New York City and Harlem expertly and with so much wit that I was actually audibly laughing at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Genocide, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt

nativeladybookwarrior's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

There is no question that the writing of this book is incredible. My goodness, the depth of love for Harlem is not only apparent, but it's build within people's struggle, their strength, and the stories. I saw not only the development of characters but also how characters and PLACE develop each other. It was also an amazing prose. I loved the dialogue! The internal mindse  of Ray.  Early on with the prose I was already not expecting a fast, complex plot heist. But I loved what I got instead, a shuffle of amazing characters. I'm looking forward to reading Crooked Manifesto. 

If you're looking forward to a fast paced plot, filled with intense twists this might not be the book for you. But im a character driven reader, so this was wonderful for me. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Murder, and Classism

mayze's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

A great book set in New York City  between the late 50s to the mid 60s. 

The main character is a black man who owns a furniture shop and like most Americans of his time is chasing The Dream by doing things by the book, eventually realising there's little to no chance for a man like him to achieve it that way. 

The book then follows the main character trying to keep his head above water while outside forces are pulling him down (sometimes he dives willingly too).

This book was my introduction to Colson Whitehead and really liked this book and have since bought the sequel to this book and got his critically acclaimed "The Underground Railroad" which I add a review here later

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

pikkumarja's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

Pidän Colson Whiteheadin kirjoitustyylistä. Tässä kirjassa oli kuitenkin niin paljon nimiä, paikan ja henkilöiden, että välillä oli vaikea pysyä kärryillä näkökulmankin vaihtuessa. Toisaalta tämä saa samaistumaan päähenkilön kaksoiselämän ja salailun tasapainottelun vaikeuteen paremmin.

"Takakannen" teksti ei ihan vastannut kirjaa, mutta lukemisen arvoinen teos on silti.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Blood, and Police brutality

mummyzz's review

informative reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Grief