Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

90 reviews

totallyshelfaware's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual violence, Murder, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death, Animal cruelty, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, and Body horror

jayevans's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: Rape

sonshinelibrarian's review against another edition

5.0

Ugh. This book. It is SO dark and so good. I loved Bitterblue in Graceling, so I was so excited to have her be the main character of her own book and she did not disappoint. I also loved seeing some of the other characters again. But dealing with the after effects of a ruler like Leck would be utterly devastating and this book does not shy away from those things at all, but it doesn't do it for no purpose. I loved the overarching theme about dealing with trauma and how to move forward while realizing that you have to acknowledge the past. 

This is definitely one of those kinds of books that could be difficult and even triggering for some people to read, so while this is definitely my favorite of the three so far, take your own past experiences into consideration when deciding whether to read this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty

frombetweentheshelves's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Torture, and Animal cruelty

battybookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad 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? Yes

5.0

Rereading these books has truly been a delight. I am now unsure if I ever actually finished it previously but either way, this book had me til the very end this time! It’s such a useful book on recovery and how one can hold onto hope after devastating happenings occur. Cashore weaves past characters in beautifully and engages each in a way that makes their character fuller and more interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Slavery, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Gore

This book, like it’s predecessors, discusses very dark topics. If you’ve read Graceling and Fire, this focuses heavily on the repercussions of decisions in those novels as well as what happened and happens after King Leck’s reign.

the abuse of people (particularly children) and animals as well as their deaths/bones are discussed frequently and in great detail through journal entry style or medical analysis. There’s some implication of danger towards Bitterblue as a child, but otherwise there’s no pedophelia/incest in the novel.

There are many character deaths and violent scenes.

kbusemeyer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.25

This book was slow to start for me, but I really enjoyed the last sections. Lots of tense moments and obviously love getting the Fire crossover and hearing about the Dells.

I think there was a lot happening in this book and sometimes it felt like everything was a twist.

I feel like Thiel’s and her other advisors betrayals didn’t surprise me but it was confusing why she continued to let them do so much. Also her feelings for Thiel were obviously complicated,  but at times it just felt confusing to understand why she cared so deeply about him. Also the Fox reveal, Bitterblue didn’t seem to have any suspicions until suddenly she did, but it didn’t seem like a gradual lead up to me. Finding out that Malden was from the Dells was interesting, seemed kind of like an unnecessary reveal but also I guess it does make sense.

Saf and Bitterblue as complicated as any other relationship in this book. I really enjoyed Giddon growing into a more developed character and seeing his relationship with Bitterblue evolve. I’m excited that there’s another book because I feel like there are still some loose ends I want to hear about.

Also thinking about it a little more, aside from Hava, there was really no reason that there had to be mention of r*pe in the book. It wasn’t necessary for Thiel and co. to have that as part of their history, I feel like having them cut children could have been enough.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape and War

cepbreed's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

Shocking. I read this book with my mind spinning and mouth agape. I was intimidated by the length but now can understand the necessity of those pages. I do not want to say too much for the sake of anyone who dislikes spoilers, but the hours it takes to finish this book are well worth it. Cashore seemed to me like a mediocre author upon my introduction to the series but with each book I am further proved wrong. The complexity of this narrative is astounding. I came to really love Bitterblue and my love for other previously established characters grew more. I have to be honest and say that I really hold no love for Saf.

In fact I was waiting on Bitterblue and Giddon to fall in love, yes the age difference is one thing but I thought the way they connected was much more meaningful. Alas, I need to be satisfied with their camaraderie and that singular forehead kiss.

Leck can rot in hell.

 Song:

• Writer In the Dark - Lorde 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Torture, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Body horror, Child abuse, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Confinement and War

carlyavocado's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

3.0

It hurts me to give this book such low rating. The only reason it even got 3 instead of 2 stars was because the last 150 pages made the book worth while. I would say at least 40% of this book was pointless drivel, useless information dumps, and unimportant cameo appearances from characters from the other novels. The pacing of this novel was so confusing.

**SLIGHT SPOILERS BELOW**


 There seemed to be a bit of romance between Bitterblue and two of the male characters, but nothing comes of it. Which was disappointing. Like what was the point then? 
The ending was somewhat worth the boring struggle of this unnecessarily long novel. They tied in characters from Fire. But that was it. The answers we get from Leck's mysterious reign are finally answered, but one with a brain can figure it out within the 1st 150 pages. 
This book was mostly unnecessary and I'm glad it's over. I am disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Rape

oneeyedjess's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, War, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence

wanderonwards's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, and Suicide

Moderate: Death, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape