Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

20 reviews

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

nottooscarythanks's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racism, and Blood

Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, and Police brutality

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

alisonvh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

I’m not a huge fan of the fact that the plot was more like three separate stories than one overarching plot. But his writing is so beautiful I can’t help but love it. And he is good at including phrases throughout the book that tie all three stories together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity and Kidnapping

theoceanrose's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Blood, and Police brutality

reggiethebird's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

A really well crafted vibe throughout the whole book. Colson Whitehead has a great voice than can really get you lost in the world at times. Sort of a lazy recollection type feel to the whole thing deal, with some really nice sentences that jump out at you every few pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, and Kidnapping

Minor: Child abuse, Antisemitism, and Grief

bookgurl488's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

This book was about a man who was straddling two worlds. The first world was that of a family man that sold furniture in his store and the other one; was a two bit crook inherited from his father side of the family.  The dichotomy of these worlds is what made this book interesting.  He would not have survived these worlds without Pepper. He was awesome.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Racism, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Blood, Police brutality, and Death of parent

Minor: Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Stalking, and War

graceesford's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Gun violence

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Murder