Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski

12 reviews

onthesamepage's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

Reading this was a mixed bag. The parts that focused on Ciri, Geralt, and Yennefer, I really enjoyed. Even the politics of the world and the commentary on racism was interesting. The problem is that it's impossible to read this without constantly getting slapped in the face with casual misogyny. 

You have Dandelion who puts all women into categories related to whether or not he would have sex with them, mentions of kings considering marrying Ciri, because her mother and grandmother were both eager for sex so surely she will be too, women having long hair being considered a symbol of them being either free or a whore, Shani who mentions she's "afraid for her maidenhood" when walking certain streets, but not for her life, because surely their maidenhood is women's primary concern. Honestly, I could keep going, because there was plenty of it. It's a classic example of white mantasy in my opinion, and if I didn't already have an attachment to Geralt and Ciri because of the game, I think I would have DNF'd this.

I'm still deciding what to do about the rest of the series, but I might just read a summary and call it a day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Misogyny

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Homophobia

faith99's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, and Torture

opinkb's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, and War

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Death of parent

elizabeth_lepore's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, War, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death of parent, Rape, and Toxic relationship

marissab's review

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, War, Death, Violence, Colonisation, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, Genocide, Sexual content, Cursing, and Grief

plume_de_renarde's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, Misogyny, and Torture

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, War, and Cursing

de_mon_sang's review

adventurous reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Misogyny, and Blood

Minor: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Death, and War

yunathealien's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This book could be perfect, if it wasn't so obvious, that the author has absolutely no clue about woman. But if you can look at all the misogyny and laugh at its stupidity and not get too infuriated by it, its a good book. Behind the misogyny hides a good story 😂

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Grief, Misogyny, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, War, Racism, Blood, Death of parent, and Genocide

Moderate: Animal death, Torture, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Ableism, Gore, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape

jaedia's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death of parent, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Minor: Abandonment, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Rape, Self harm, and Torture

cemeterygay's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Somehow even more misogyny than the other witcher book I read. The world is neat and so are some of the characters. Pretty standard white man fantasy book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Torture, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault