Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Crosshairs by Catherine Hernandez

5 reviews

_meganrose's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Mental illness, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Transphobia

readingwithkt's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

CROSSHAIRS by Catherine Hernandez is a brutal dystopian novel, unflinching in its account of a fascist regime that sweeps Canada in the aftermath of a climate crisis. The Boots are tasked with rounding up The Others, a term used to refer to anybody who is BAME/BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+. The Renovation movement involves all Others being taken to forced labour camps and brutalised, often murdered. This book is violent, graphic and extremely unsettling. 

In the way that all good dystopian stories are written, this book could easily be a possible future, a prediction of what could come if we are not careful to challenge and destroy the growing wave of fascism. I particularly appreciated Hernandez’s reflections on intersectionality throughout the narrative.

Though somewhat heavy handed in places, I thought that Crosshairs was a chilling and harrowing dystopian, and one that is certainly worth a read if you can handle the graphic violence and dehumanisation tactics depicted throughout. It took me several (3-4) months to read this novel due to the content. 

May this book serve as a reminder of the dangers of fascism, and the need for all allys to speak up and take action in the face of it.

Thank you to Jacaranda for this review copy, received in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Rape

wholesomeandqueer's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death, Racism, Homophobia, and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual violence

kharlan3's review against another edition

challenging dark tense

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Trafficking, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, and Gore

Minor: Biphobia

forced sterilization

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Thanks to Atria Books for the free advance copy of this book. 

 📚 Wowww, this was horrifying. The world of CROSSHAIRS is only a breath away from our own, and it's easy to see the path we'd take to reach it.
📚 Heavy emphasis on intersectionality and how differently oppression works for queer BIPOC and trans people than for white cis queer people who could pass as straight if they wanted to.
📚 The flashback scenes to Kay's drag days were so joyful and loving.
📚 Great discussions of how allyship is an action, not just a label, and how white people can use their privilege to both lift up BIPOC leaders and to put their bodies on the front lines.
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What I didn't like:
📚 A lot of the dialogue was stiff and unnatural, which took me out of the story a few times.
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Content warnings: Ableism, bullying, child abuse, child death, deadnaming, death, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, genocide, gun violence, hate crime, homophobia, Islamophobia, kidnapping, physical abuse, police brutality, racial slurs, racism, rape, religious bigotry, sexism, sexual violence, suicide, suicidal thoughts, torture, transphobia, violence, and xenophobia. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia