Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás

93 reviews

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

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

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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

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

ominousspectre's review

5.0

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHBBH
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 *picture of me laying in the family guy death pose*

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

reila's review

challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Self harm and Torture

minayana'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

4.5

This was an amazing book. In part 1, we have the creation of Lucifer and how he learns to be an angel and build community. In part 2, we have the beginning of the end, with God becoming jealous and enraged by Lucifer’s love not only for Michael, but for his self love. I absolutely adored this book, and in my heart it’s a 5 star, but objectively, the last 25% did not live up to the rest of the book. My issue was the random stream of consciousness like writing. It seemed like the author was trying to evoke that feeling during movies where there are rapid fire screen changes during tense moments, with flash backs or imagery that hint at symbolism. It was very jarring and took me out of the story, and once I was back in, it would happen again. I understand what the author was doing, but it did not feel necessary or natural to the book as we already had such an amazing look into Lucifer’s mind. There were some punctuation issues as well, but that doesn’t really bother me. I absolutely plan on buying the revised edition at some point this year and rereading! I adored Lucifer and Michael, and Lucifer’s journey broke my heart. I cried multiple times lol. I cried before anything sad even happened cause I was scared for it to come lol.

Please check trigger warnings before starting the book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Self harm, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault and Torture

grandma_beth's review

dark emotional sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal death

brinipor's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

I didn't realize I needed this gay Bible fanfiction, but I did! This was as endearing and lovely as it was devastating and heartbreaking. Watching Lucifer come into himself only to be rejected for something as simple as loving another was a story I will be thinking about for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Sexual assault

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. 

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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

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