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Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

59 reviews

alexisgarcia's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

WOW wow. this book has such diverse and well rounded characters. the story is interesting and has very important underlying themes. i didn’t realize this was written after Pet but i recommend reading this first for some world building and a linear story.
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lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective tense

4.5

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lana72905's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

3.5

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eni_iilorak's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? No

4.75

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stefhyena's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

There was a lot to love in this YA speculative and somewhat dystopian book with a soupcon of the paranormal. It's a subversive take on the Mary-Sue trope and on angels which it does not romanticise (nor even dark romanticise).

The romance had its problematic aspects like instalove will. The love interest was too good to be true initially and tended to love-bomb which in real life would be a red flag but he was likeable nevertheless. Later in the book he acted like an immature jerk and this was smoothed over a bit too easily I thought. In books people go from really deep conflicts to forever love all too easily and I don't think this is a healthy thing to teach youth...but there was a lot else going on.

There was acceptance for physical and mental disability, meltdowns/anxiety. It was clearly shown that where parents are not available you can have an intergenerational community of care (I found that very beautifully portrayed and the fact it was matriarchal didn't bother me too much). There is moral complexity in that just killing the bad guys is not the answer, but wanting to is portrayed as understandable. Art is rightly shown as significant but what I thought was more problematic was the easy conclusion that not being in the frontline because you are an artist is as good as giving your life or body to the struggle. I don't disagree with aspects of how this played out but I think noone actually wants to be in the trenches doing the hard yards they tend to (in real life) feel lonely and unsupported and the portrayal in the book was idealised to the point where people will feel affirmed in doing nothing.

I wondered if some issues were glossed over or simplified because of the perception that teens won't read it if you add more depth (or if it was a wordcount issue). A few other minor issues too but overall nothing detracted from the fact I was enjoying this book all the way through and keen to know what happened next. An interesting and worthwhile book.
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rachellle's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book was amazing! This prequel was absolutely necessary for me because it enhances the world in 'Pet'. Definitely rereading 'Pet' and then rereading this book again. The conflicts that Bitter, her friends, and Assata face were written with so much depth.
From Bitter's indifference towards the protests, to Bitter's guilt about the angels and not supporting her friend's, to the exhaustion the Assata members face. It's really important that the novel highlighted the structure of organizing and the exhaustion that the work leads to. The conflicts between Bitter and her friends was complex and demonstrated how the world affects interpersonal relationships (Eddie ending their friendship).


The only part I wish the novel spent more time explaining was the resolution of the overarching conflict.
Obviously the mega rich guy is killed and the mayor is spared, leading him to abolish the prisons and replace the entire city council. But what conversations led to that? I know not much of a conversation would have went down but I wanna know what was said.


Overall, this book was so good. What really drew me in was the honesty of the relationship dynamics; their interactions are not isolated from the larger world. It was interesting to see how they all did their best to hold each other up and even fail sometimes. And Bitter's character development was layered and amazing to watch unfold. 
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cerilouisereads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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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puggreader's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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kbairbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

I’m not sure what to say. Pet was an incredible read and I had some trepidation as to whether Bitter would be able to follow through. Well, it absolutely did. Wow! I am blown away. Akwaeke once again has proven what masterful storytelling they are capable of. The way they intertwine real problems, and the human condition, with magic, soul, and heart. Brava. 
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fareehareads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read this a year after reading Pet, the story that follows Bitter's daughter. Details from that book kept coming back to me as I read this one and it made the ride even more enthralling. Since I read the other one first, I knew the gist of what happened to Lucille, but the experience was so different, raw and harrowing. I could not put this book down once I started. Bitter was such a relatable character, her fears and her hopes, her pain and her rage, all of it was manifested into her own angel, Vengence. These are the types of stories that make me love speculative fiction because it presented real questions about revolution, abolition, & justice and gives you a fantastical exploration on how these humans react to the impossible. It really was asking readers how much will it take before systemic change happens for real? Will it take a miracle or a heavy burden or some combination of both? Ube had a great quote near the end when he visited Bitter, saying, "all freedoms are terrible, that's the part they never tell you." I'll be taking the lessons in this book with me for a while.
I highly recommend the audiobook version of this book !
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