Reviews with content warning for Murder - Os profetas

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Os profetas by Robert Jones Jr.

73 reviews

ashleysbookthoughts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

I can see why Jones has been compared to Toni Morrison. His writing has a similar lyrical quality and like Morrison, there’s a lot of depth beyond the words on the page. Like Beloved, there is a vague otherworldly feeling in The Prophets. The story is real and painful, but there’s a feeling of magic to it as well. But comparisons aside, Jones’ voice is solidly his own. And he has a lot to say (give him a follow @thesonofbaldwin for proof).

It took me a long time to get through this book. Not because I wasn’t invested, but rather because it isn’t one that can be read casually. I couldn’t pick it up after a long stressful day, because I was unable to give it the attention it required. Jones’ writing is dense and complex and requires focus.

This is a tough read. Jones doesn’t shy away from the brutality of slavery. He inspects the generational trauma of the slave trade and colonialism. But he also does something quite lovely. He puts forth a depiction of queerness that is the so natural, so pure, that it feels impossible that we should ever have thought queerness wrong or different.

While the narrative builds slowly, by the final third of the book I couldn’t put it down.

Content Warnings

krissy0906's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Such a beautifully written book. It can be a little hard to follow if you don’t have your full attention on it, but it’s such a heartbreaking, worthy read

Content Warnings

maggiekateb's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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ashyq's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-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? No

4.25

Content Warnings

jayisreading's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

There are no words to express how incredibly written this book is. There also isn’t a book quite like The Prophets either, making it a unique piece of literature.

The Prophets will leave you feeling so much grief and heartache, considering that it’s set on a slave plantation (and Jones certainly sheds light on the atrocities in such places). However, this book isn’t trauma porn by any means. There are traumatic moments, yes, but there are these “tiny resistances” (to quote Jones) exhibited through Black joy, Black tenderness, and so much Black love, particularly centering queer love. Jones does an incredible job exploring these beautiful moments while still addressing the pain and trauma of enslaved Black people and their lasting effects. I specifically think of the following quote:

They pushed people into the mud and then called them filthy. They forbade people from accessing any knowledge of the world and then called them simple. They worked people until their empty hands were twisted, bleeding, and could do no more, then called them lazy. They forced people to eat innards from troughs and then called them uncivilized. They kidnapped babies and shattered families and then called them incapable of love. They raped and lynched and cut up people into parts, and then called the pieces savages. They stepped on people’s throats with all their might and asked why the people couldn’t breathe. And then, when people made an attempt to break the foot, or cut it off one, they screamed, “CHAOS!” and claimed that mass murder was the only way to restore order.

(Bolded is my emphasis.)

You can tell a lot of care went into every page of this book. The story is so rich with incredible character development, all of which will pull you in and have you swimming in emotions.

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annabec's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

regnistegra's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

katsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

"Harder, however, and even more frightening was the truth: there was no such thing as monsters. Every travesty that had ever been committed had been committed by plain people and every person had it in them"

“Knowledge was a strength even when it hurt.”

“Our responsibility is to tell you the truth. But since you were never told the truth, you will believe it a lie. Lies are more affectionate than truth and embrace with both arms.”

"People liked pride. Mistook it for purpose.”

I totally get why people so frequently compare Jones to Toni Morrison. I could definitely sense the similarities in their prose. However, unlike Morrison, I found myself getting a little lost in the prose of this book. I'd alternate between struggling to follow the plot and being incredibly invested. I'm not sure if that's just one of the things that happen with debuts or if it is just that I don't love literary fiction. Despite those moments of confusion, I really enjoyed this novel. Samuel and Isaiah's relationship just lept off the page and being able to see the perspectives of most of the people on the plantation, enslaved and enslaver, alike was compelling. I found Maggie and Adam's perspectives incredible and would have read a book just about them. There are a lot deeper themes that I think I could articulate better when and if I reread this. This book definitely strikes me as one of those books that needs a reread or two to really appreciate all of the things it's trying to say. It will definitely not be forgettable, that's for sure. I would also add lots of content and trigger warnings for sensitive content. Obviously, this is a book about slavery so rape, sexual assualt, physical violence, racism and racial slurs are all prevalent throughout the book. If you are sensitive to any content, please look up the content warnings for this book so you can take care of yourself.

Content Warnings

jlsigman's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

kikiareyoureading's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.25

Content Warnings

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