Scan barcode
bashsbooks's reviews
207 reviews
3.75
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Misogyny
4.5
The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is because I don't really know enough about corporate law and how economics work for big companies well enough to comment on her understandings of those things. Those parts were dense and difficult to read if you're not already well-versed in those areas.
Graphic: Animal death and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Death, Excrement, and Vomit
- 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
Also, it was so good of them to #letvaxbeabidiaster. I fucking love Thorn.
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Racism, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
All that said, I found it interesting enough. I like to see how the Sith have evolved over time, and it's always entertaining to watch them play 5-D chess with their enemies. I will probably read the other two books in this series (PLEASE let Darth Zannah be a better female character), but I don't have expectations that it'll be earth-shattering.
All in all, recommended if you like the Sith and the backstories of the larger Star Wars universe.
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Misogyny, Slavery, and Sexual harassment
- 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? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Suicide
Minor: Medical content and Car accident
1.75
The third essay takes a dive into American history that seems distracted and disjointed. At times, it seems more like Auster wants to tell his audience the real American history, rather than the whitewashed version we tend to get in school. He mostly gets this right, and it's important to share that history, but it doesn't all seem to have a place next to the topic of gun violence and gun control. Also - it seems to me that a black sensitivity reader was hired for this text but not a Native American one; I cannot come up with any other explanation from the very up-to-date usage of capital B "Black" and "enslaved people" next to the very outdated usage of an older term for Native Americans that is still common, but considered inappropriate now.
The essays after the third have their fair share of issues as well. Off of the top of my head: mental health was handly surprisingly poorly and lightly given Auster's comments about how it goes hand-in-hand with gun discussions; the cognitive dissonace between advocating for only military and police to have guns next to discussions about George Floyd's murder was deeply concerning; the shallow comparison of the Black Panthers' reasons for arming themselves with modern white conservatives was frankly offensive (protip: just because they say they have similar reasons for being armed doesn't mean it's true). Auster also wanted to discuss race, but struggled at times to remember that there are more than two races. He also wanted to talk about how great women are (which I respect, but again I ask, why here?) and quibble over linguistic semantics in a way that makes him look like he has never heard the word 'nuance' in his life.
I could go on, but I'll spare you. This book sucks and I would give it a lower rating if I didn't enjoy the photographs. I found they were the most compelling aspect of Bloodbath Nation, much more in line with what I expected from it.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, and Misogyny
4.25
I have to highly recommend audiobook, which contains exclusive covers and acoustic versions of some of Carlile's most popular songs at the end of every chapter. Also, at the end, there is a nearly two hour section of the music within back-to-back. This alone makes it superior to the other versions.
My gripes with this book ar very minor - it sometimes feels disjointed, especially at chapter breaks, but Carlile herself admits she isn't a writer. All in all, it's a decent memoir.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Racism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I am interested to see how much Andrews' writing will hold up outside of a confined space in Petals on the Wind.
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Medical content, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Cursing, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Racism, Xenophobia, and Alcohol
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Lots and lots of galatic politics and economics, though. That aspect really made my head spin at times. Also, I constantly had to look up the species being described because I haven't read a ton of Star Wars books, so matching the names of the species to the visuals I know from the TV shows and movies was a bit harrowing at times.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Slavery, Torture, Kidnapping, and War
Minor: Vomit, Trafficking, and Stalking