Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás

49 reviews

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

---

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

ash_tree's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, and Murder

graygarrido's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

In honor of Angels & Man releasing in 2024 I decided to reread Angels Before Man. This was one of my top reads of 2023 and as you can probably tell, one that has followed me into 2024. This Queer retelling of The Fall of Lucifer is as much of an open w*und of religious tr*uma as it is a celebration of queer joy, queer love, & queer bodies. 

Rafael Nicolás does an incredible job at making a story both light & full of achingly sweet tenderness & in the same chapter explore the darkness within Religion & the harmful ways in which Religion can be taught to young minds. 

One of my favorite themes was of queer identity & the queer Body & its relationship (or lack thereof) with Catholicism. How in this version of Paradise we are shown bodies of all shapes and sizes. Masculine and feminine blur together to create something entirely new, bodies decadently dressed in jewels from head to toe and covered in delicate fabrics. 

I saw so much of my young queer self in Lucifer and Michael. The questions, the doubts, the love, the resentment, and most of all the fear. This book is a balm to my inner queer child, & I truly cannot recommend it enough especially if you were raised Catholic like I was. 

I cannot wait to see what happens next in this world. & with that I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes: 

“So if Lucifer had ever the choice, he might've decided to inspire the Lord's hate, rather than His quiet displeasure. A hand that strikes from the dark is at least proof of a hand. It's kinder to be beaten than to be left untouched.” 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Blood

v333spertine's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, and Religious bigotry

nerdyspinster's review

dark emotional 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

minnows's review against another edition

Best prose I've ever read. Themes became too difficult for where my mental health is at the moment. I want to come back to this some day, I know I was nearly done, but not for some time. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Minor: Rape

okays1331's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

3.75

The author warns of all the graphic triggers in here and it is no joke. The wirld building and characterizations anre really well done and the story is horrific. 

It’s marked as a queer retelling of the fall of Lucifer. I don’t think that is central to the story. The characters are man-shaped but so is everyone. There is no real romance, the tender feelings of the two central characters tip over into obsession immediately. Sexual content is almost all violent and violating. 

Note: Sometimes difficult to read because of the way the author chose to format dialogue. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

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

---

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)

mxfloral_'s review

adventurous challenging 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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Abandonment

sophiasoler's review

dark emotional medium-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

5.0

i wish i had the words to describe this book. lucifer’s internal conflict was difficult to read and so familiar. he was created to be a servant and was punished for his very birth. it is such a crime to be human. to be of flesh and blood. to be breakable, fragile, and unworthy. to be human is to be searching for meaning and something in this large abyss and to learn that there is nothing. even the one created you, who forced you into this world, does not want you as you are. to be human is to try and change everything about yourself and to be cursed with the knowledge that it will never be enough. this was such a beautiful and eloquent expression of humanity and its complexities in the form of lucifer’s fall. i wish i could reread it tenderly as if i had never read it before, and re-experience everything over and over again. this was very cruel, and i think i will read anything rafael nicholás writes.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape