Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

8 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

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

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

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

elenatamsen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment

davidrb's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense fast-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

STRONG, STRONG contender for my favorite book of the year, and certainly for my favorite published this year. Wonderfully paced, dryly funny, and with such a tight grasp on story and plot. I came out of it way more emotional than I banked for. The Count of Monte Cristo references...wow!

Savored every minute.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

There's a scene midway through the book that veers close to rape and will likely trigger people who are affected by sexual assault.

butyougotmysoul's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-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? Yes

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this novel.  I will say up front - this novel has several typos and errors that made some of the storyline hard to follow - the wrong names in some places makes everything a little difficult unless you're reading extremely closely.  With that all being said - I had a little bit of a hard time with this novel - there were points where the plot FLEW by, but then other times that seemed extremely extraneous.  I'm not entirely sure why some parts were added to the novel.  All that aside, I did enjoy this book overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol