Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Celui qui noya le monde by Shelley Parker-Chan

107 reviews

nikenacs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Rape, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Animal death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Self harm, Pregnancy, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Abortion, Miscarriage, and Infertility

ysary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I loved this book! 
The plot is amazing with a lot of twist and turn where you don't expect it. Seeing all the POV of the different Mandates makes you root for each of them and want to scream at the other when they fall into their traps. It's a very gruesome book with a lot of detailed violence that made me sometime have to take a minute before continuing reading.

In the end I knew I wanted Zhu to win but I had no idea how she would do it, everything was against her. Some of her action where more than questionable and some of them I did not understand but all of it is for the greater good. She scarified so much to get her empire but was it worth it? To me it wouldn't and I love that she also as moments of doubt because I was right there with her.

I usually don't like military books but I could not put this one down because more than armies they  are people and they aren't just fighting for power but for their future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Classism, Death, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, War, Gore, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual content and Homophobia

Minor: Abortion

ghoulgalpal's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and War

Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia

Minor: Sexual assault

erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

Wow. A surprising but also seemingly fateful end to this epic duology. There were several moment in this book that made me audibly gasp in horror at the brutality and gruesomeness of the characters’ actions, but nothing felt out of place or inserted for shock value. The events build on each other until the tension feels almost too much and you are wondering if what you felt was fated to happen this whole time might not actually occur. There were some lulls that felt a bit drawn out but overall I was just as rapt and invested as I was in the first book. It didn’t feel like a second book but rather a natural second part to the first, and the ending was satisfying.

Although the story ending with Zhu on the throne feels inevitable and does not come as a surprise, the path taken and the characters you get to know along the way are richly developed and interesting, which keeps the reading experience interesting and worthwhile.

It didn’t seem to matter that I never truly grasped the movement of the armies or the complete geography—the focus on the characters and their motivations and interactions was engaging on its own and the characters’ intertwined arcs were logical, satisfying, and moving. 

Read if you like sweeping  political drama and brutal historical fantasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Ableism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Homophobia, Torture, and Bullying

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Body shaming, and Blood

shibh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

A bittersweet end to the duology. These books look at gender and the human experience of it in a way that has left me feeling exposed and crying. In a good way though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Homophobia, Body shaming, Classism, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Murder, Abortion, Confinement, Genocide, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Misogyny, Child death, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Gore, Infertility, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Vomit, Xenophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

tinyflame4's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Body horror, Violence, Misogyny, Rape, and Slavery

isi__1's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Self harm, War, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Miscarriage, Torture, and Rape

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

laurareads87's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

My first five star fiction of 2024 is He Who Drowned The World, the sequel to the excellent She Who Became the Sun. Set in mid-1300s China, this book picks up where its predecessor left off (and, helpfully, includes a very brief overview of where the previous book left the main characters).  The book follows several characters vying for the imperial throne and, with it, the ability to shape the future in which they all live.  The plot moves quickly, but for me the character work is what really shines here; the characters are multi-faceted and complex and the subtleties of their shifting motivations and relationships are extraordinarily well developed.  Themes of cisnormativity and heteronormativity - particularly how their ideologies are internalized and wielded by those they most harm - are handled so skillfully; this was an emotional read, and is the kind of queer historical fantasy I want to read.

In comparison, to the first book, the sequel is definitely heavier in tone; I would also say that the fantasy elements figure more prominently.  Having read the first book is vital to reading this one.

Content warnings: War, violence, murder, blood, injury detail, ableism, internalized homophobia, sexism/misogyny, death of a child, drowning, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, torture, rape (several instances, in one case described in some detail on-page), animal cruelty & death. This book is not easy reading.  It is not the most graphic by any means, but violence is absolutely pervasive throughout and the author's skill means that the content is deeply impactful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Blood, Violence, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Misogyny

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Child death

moonmisandrist's review against another edition

• 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

4.0

What a book. 

Shelley Parker-Chan is an amazing writer, the world they have created is alive and so dark (much darker than I anticipated (or was comfortable with at times!), and the characters fully reflect the story they exist in. Before reading the book, for some silly reason, I was worried about this one having such a focus on Baoxiang (sorry I love Ouyang and Zhu a lot). Unsurprisingly SPC proved me <i>soo</i> wrong. Baoxiang the man that you are... 

I really loved spending time with all the characters in the first book again - apart from Baoxiang though, I did not care for one other new major POV character unfortunately. 

While I was reading this book, I had a great time. I ate it up and let myself feel all the emotions along with the characters. Overall I had a great reading experience (except for one scene). Once finished, my heart and brain recovered, and here are some thoughts.

Loved: the characters, the overall story/journey, Ma (best character), commentary/portrayals of gender, the grief is never-ending but so is the love. and my god the YEARNING in this book.

Disliked/questioning: the pacing, the conclusion of what it is to be feminine, the explicit darkness of some scenes - including the over represtation of some dark themes, and the ending feeling a bit sudden and underdeveloped. 

- The pacing and tone of the book jumped around a lot. At the start it felt too slow, then it was all too quick. Paired with the jump from a very intense dark scene to characters doing...very little in another chapter made it feel hard to stay grounded in the story.

-How sex was used in the story. Much of the story involves politics. Of course, sex will be involved in a royal court setting. Unfortunately, I struggled to understand what SPC was trying to say about sex (and sexual violence) with this story. And at worst, I landed with the feeling that (vague spoilers)

everyone who is 'feminine' (with the understanding that gender is different to us all, and femininity is not a confined easily to describe concept!) must use sex as a tool - in fact, it may be the only tool you have, as every major character in this book (save one??) used sex to gain power in this series with their femininity. I would have much rather preferred one or two characters to have done so, while the others did not, as this creates a discussion about society and power and the characters themselves. For everyone to be doing it...leaves me feeling quite disillusioned. Especially Zhu's scene...

- A new POV Character (major spoilers)

I am still unsure of Madame Zhang's place in the story. I think I will be thinking about her for a long time, and while I do not hate her, I found it hard to care for her/her motives. In many ways, I think she could have existed as a character in Baoxiang narrative without being a POV character. I feel much that she does/happens to her could have been inferred/uncovered by Baoxiang and it'd further show how isolated he is - we'd have no insight into his world save his POV scenes. It goes without saying, the sexual assault scene, is a lot. And as I couldn't understand her character, I feel like I don't have the 'closure' of that scene or its purpose.

Once again I must say how much I enjoyed the initial journey I went on with this series. I will reread one day, and I look forward to revisiting my thoughts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Self harm

Moderate: Violence and Sexual content

grace_b_3's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Rape, Murder, Grief, Violence, Transphobia, Sexual content, Self harm, Infidelity, War, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore