Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin

27 reviews

somnifey's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

The author is skilled in writing but is also too detailed. Listening to the audiobook, each chapter is 30+ minutes long, which is why there are so many content warnings listed. Some parts are very slow, some are fast paced. Some are tense, and some are relaxing. Overall a good read but needs paused often for a mental break from all the detail and heavy topics. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Murder, Domestic abuse, Incest, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, War, and Ableism

Minor: Pregnancy and Animal death

bookaddictellagershon's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pregnancy, War, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Gore, Grief, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest, Sexual assault, Rape, and Fire/Fire injury

livd1200's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Sexual assault, Slavery, Incest, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, War, Rape, and Torture

amariehoyos's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual content, Violence, War, Blood, Murder, and Rape

shiveryteacup's review

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Alcohol, Slavery, Pregnancy, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Grief, Rape, Sexual content, War, Child death, Injury/injury detail, Death of parent, Ableism, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

fifteenthjessica's review

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

So, this is my second time reading it. After feeling like Wizard of Earthsea was a drudge and a few dnfs, I thought I should reread something I liked, and picked Game of Thrones (first read in summer of 2013) because, for the better part of the year, my urge to write fan fic of it has returned. I spent about a month and a half on this.

I'm still invested in a lot of the characters, both ones who played a major role in this book and ones who don't play a major role or even appear until later, but reading it when you know a lot of the shocking moves,

Spoiler

like Bran's fall, the incest, the death of Eddard Stark,

wasn't as fun for me. George R. R. Martin's prose alternates between gorgeous descriptions and awkward or uncomfortable in ways that I don't think served Martin's goals.

Spoiler

Part of the reason I rooted for Viserys Targaryen's death was because I thought after he died, I'd hear less about 13-14 year old Daenerys Targaryen's breasts and nipples.

Dialogue can be iffy as well. Like, characters who probably haven't talked much all refer to the political games in King's Landing as "the game of thrones" which comes off as a heavy handed title drop. Between how long it took me to read this and Dreamsongs, volume 1 this year, the rest of his writing doesn't do as much for me as his characters.

I have heard a lot of people praise his world building, and as an aspiring writer/actual dungeon master who has dabbled in world building her own fantasy settings, Martin's quality is very inconsistent at best. Daenerys spends a lot of time with the Dothraki over the course of five hefty books, but the culture comes off as very one dimensional and most members of it are forgettable. I don't think I'm alone in remembering all Dothraki characters except Khal Drogo exclusively in terms of their relationship to Dany and maybe a name because they are very unimportant. Heck, there's a short paragraph in one of Dany's later chapters that feels like Martin is just dumping the personality of the youngest of her future bloodriders (Aggo? The three of them really blur together) on us in place of letting it unfold naturally as he interacts with Dany. The culture is mostly a combination of raiding and horses, almost to the point of impracticality (how many horses do they keep if they need them for transportation, fighting, clothing, and meat, plus burn horses in the funeral pyres of their leaders so they have a mount in the afterlife? There's a reason real world horseback nomadic cultures usually herd other animals). This is especially bad if you compare them to the equally raiding focused Ironborn, who in later novels are fleshed out through four point of view characters and with a number of memorable side characters that show that not everyone is raiding every waking hour of the day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcoholism, Death, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Torture, Rape, Injury/injury detail, and Infertility

Minor: Self harm and Trafficking

z4k_cz's review

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Child death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape

lisa00's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, War, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Child abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Infertility, Infidelity, Body shaming, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Incest, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Death, Sexism, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/injury detail, Blood, and Animal death

deddiemunster's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

Complex, intriguing, and rife with betrayal and morally ambiguous characters (my absolute favorite kind); I was utterly enrapt from start to finish and never knew quite what to expect, let alone who to trust.

A Game of Thrones is the first true-blue high fantasy novel I've read and I'm forever grateful for the honor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Slavery, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Injury/injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, and War

liab's review

adventurous dark tense medium-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

4.5

I wanted to start this series because I loved the world that the show made, surprise surprise the world is so much more detailed and interesting. The series is all about characters and curiosity simply drives me to see how different the characters are, I have already spotted how body language is quite different and seeing each person’s perspective it really makes me rethink. Thanks to reading the book, I find it better since it gives more depth to the characters. I personally don’t like the ways that characters like Tyrion and Bran and any disabled person is described, Plus I know that it’s no surprise that the way people are described and talked about is like hot potato between characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, War, and Sexism

Moderate: Slavery, Incest, Domestic abuse, and Fatphobia

Minor: Body shaming and Miscarriage

Shaming of Disabilities