Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

35 reviews

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

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

parenthesis_enjoyer's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: 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

bel017's review against another edition

dark informative sad

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

 In 1960s Harlem, NYC, a black man tries to balance and separate his straight and criminal lives. 

Lots of CW for marginalised people living in desperate, violent, poverty stricken and oppressive situations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Grief, and Alcohol

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