Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

73 reviews

epellicci's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring slow-paced

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

5.0

Beautifully crafted and wonderfully atmospheric. I adored this book. Building on fairy tale and folk stories, The Bear and the Nightingale draws you into a story that manages to be both whimsical and dark. There is a nostalgia in the way that Arden captures the feelings of hardship, community and superstition of living in a remote village in Old Russia. It dares the reader to believe in magic and spirits, and feels incredibly real in it's gloriously slow burn building of tension and drama. It has a romance and a wildness that made it impossible to put down. Bold characters and the exquisitely written landscape truly bring the book to life. I had to sit and simply hold it for a while once I was finished reading. It is magnificent.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Child death and Sexual assault

cynicalraven's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Death, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal death

btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

Corporal punishment

sauvageloup's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

a brilliant book that i got through slowly, but through no fault of its own, i think

pros:
- stunning, lyrical, fairytale writing. simple style but really lovely in originality of description and poignant turns of phrase. the story is carried along beautifully, smoothing over time skips.
- the character development was also so good, with Konstantin descending into worse evils, Anna's rise and fall, Vasya growing into her strength while still being fallible, and my favourite, Morozko, of sleep and death. he was cold but fair, human but other, real and not, and i just loved how Arden wrote him.
- i also enjoyed the setting so much, and the historical details too. the afternotes show how much effort Arden put into historical accuracy.

cons:
- maybe a bit slow, which didn't help my lack of reading focus

looking forward to reading book 2, and glad i won't have to leave the characters :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Child death, Religious bigotry, and Body horror

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Blood, Violence, Murder, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual assault

warning for eating disorder is really for starvation and struggling to get enough to eat, descriptions of extreme weight loss.

noodletheriddle's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual assault

thereadingnurse2021's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

The first half of the book is definitely slower paced, but once you get past part one things pick up and all the building that took place in that first part starts to makes sense. Then the following parts are deliciously creepy, foreboding, and intense in turns. I loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Grief, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault

reddeddy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, Child abuse, Gore, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Blood, and Animal death

Minor: Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Body shaming

alanadeluca's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

rthpr's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Misogyny

chattie_the_mad_chatter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is my 2nd read in less than a year and I loved it even more on a re-read. It is a coming of age story about a girl in Medievil Russia who can see the characters of folklore Cheroti who are household/ nature spirits and pagan deities. Christianity is sweeping through Russia and her village starts to be told they cannot be Christian and leave offerings to the household spirits. Vasya tries to build a bridge between these two worlds whilst trying to save her family from darkness that resides in humans and some folklore characters. But society feels Vasya should take her place in the world as she is no lo get a girl but a woman. Vasya is her own person she makes her own path and her freedom is important not only for herself but for all those who need protecting.

The writing in this is so immersive you are pulled into the world of both a historical Russia and a fantastical world of folklore. The strength of Vasya is astounding. The relationships between her family members are either beautiful, heart breaking or hurtful. I love the characters, human and Cheroti the villainous ones are excellently drawn. It's a slow burn book, but the simmering heats up and the time taken to get their means your understanding and affection for the characters is more heartfelt. Fantastic scene setter for an amazing trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault