Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás

46 reviews

c_alexander's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Rape

regisreed1's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Beautiful prose and storytelling. Such an interesting take on the Morningstar/fall of the angels theology-- you know what's coming at the end, but the road there is so lovely you can't stop, and the fall is horrifying. This book devastated me in the best way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence

Minor: Self harm and Sexual content

The author splits the narration into sections, and readers can choose not to continue into part three where the majority of these warnings come up. The violence tag is present throughout the novel as the angels play games that cause bodily harm that can be mended, but is gruesome.

dead_colonel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Incest

axel_p's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

violetlunablossom's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

I genuinely have no words to describe how much I loved Angels Before Man. Never before have I read a book that was so raw and profound. Rafael Nicolás is a poetic genius who wove together an intimate story of love, betrayal, and religious trauma. He brings the energy that needed to be present when it came to writing a queer retelling of Satan's fall and I couldn't be more amazed that this was his debut novel. 

Lucifer was an extremely compelling protagonist. His transformation from a wide-eyed, vibrant newborn angel to a vengeful, unhinged dissident was tragic and seamless. It all reads like someone who fell out of love with religion (and God), wrestling with feelings of guilt, anger, and overwhelming sorrow while everyone else around you seems normal. Michael, Asmodeus, and Rosier were also wonderfully engrossing supporting characters. Their unique relationships with Lucifer (Michael especially because good God was I hurting by the end) were what made this book in my opinion. 

The way that heaven and its hierarchy of angels are portrayed additionally made this whole book for me. Angels have their purposes and tasks and they're not all copy + paste personalities. They're beautiful, nearly androgynous beings, who dress in fine silks and jewels but also enjoy watching violent and frenzied battles in a giant colosseum. Also side note, kudos to Nicolás for not making all his angels white. It's a small detail but reading about angels who have a variety of skin tones has never made me more happy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicidal thoughts

seanache's review

medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual assault

theminnesotawitch's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A book that blew me away. The prose is beautiful, and the style changes as the protagonist becomes more obsessed with himself. A queer retelling of the fall of angels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

asukaya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Homophobia

katierem277's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Violence

cemeterygay's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

CW: Major (Christian religious trauma)