Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás

19 reviews

regisreed1's review against another edition

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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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arlingtonchamberofgay's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-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

5.0

rafael nicolás does a beautiful job of painting Heaven as a utopian paradise alongside the perils of asking too many questions, being too different. His writing is wonderfully elegant and walks you through the creation of the angel of beauty and his long life all the way to his fall. Lucifer’s expulsion from Heaven was always going to happen, but you can’t help but pray that it doesn’t, for the angel to succeed in his fight against god and his throne.

This book is for the outcasts, the broken, the abominations. It’s for those of us who have been deemed undesirable in the eyes of god, his church and worshippers. May we create and mold new worlds out of our pains and pleasures.

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ash_trys's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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


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brdiaz1123's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0


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dredadonx's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

⚠️Review may contain some slight spoilers‼️

This book by Rafael Nicolas is a queer retelling of the fall of Satan. The story begins as we follow Lucifer when he wakes up in a grandiloquent ambience that is set in what we know as Heaven, and he is a fledgling Angel who is trying to understand his new place there. He starts off as having very low self esteem, is petrified of how he looks, and is very emotional. As the story goes along, we start to see him grow into himself and gain confidence As he is deemed the most beautiful Angel in Heaven and God’s Favorite amongst the angels. 

The other character we meet is Michael the Archangel who is our MC’s love interest. As the two hit it off, the story goes from a cozy love story to one of tragedy, betrayal, and loss. 

Rafael Nicolas really captivated my attention throughout the entire read of this novel. It was full of adventure and character growth, but also heart wrenching tragedy. This is their debut and the first book of a trilogy (I believe?), so I could only imagine how crazy it’s going to get haha. 

20/10 recommend! 

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axel_p's review against another edition

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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

4.0

I am so torn between loving this book and hating it.
Lucifer had some great ideas but some of his other ideas were less ideal.

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ominousspectre's review

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5.0

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

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theminnesotawitch's review

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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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okays1331's review

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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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cemeterygay's review

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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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