Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

45 reviews

blewballoon's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

My boyfriend read this book to me at night to help me fall asleep, and it's great for that. If you need an example of a fantasy book with excessively convoluted names, this is the book for you. If want a painfully slow and dry story with a vague sense of political intrigue but nothing too intriguing, this book is an excellent choice. How much you enjoy this book will depend on how much you enjoy the main character. I personally thought he was.. fine? Not a bad person, but not an exceptional one either in the grand scheme of things. I was much more interested in his close staff, such as his personal assistant who arguably did the most, his rotating bodyguards, and even his royal dressers who picked out his clothes. (Notice how I'm avoiding using anyone's name because I have absolutely no hope of trying to spell them.) I think this book would have been vastly improved by having more perspectives, like the staff members I mentioned, and a female character perspective would have been great as well. The emperor arguably does the bare minimum in terms of treating women decently, at least from a modern viewpoint. I am glad this is a book where

"Good" people have good things happen to them and "bad" people don't get away with doing a lot of bad stuff for very long.

If this were a more pessimistic book, I think the snail's pace and difficult to grasp world-building would have been even harder to wade through. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, and Racism

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

The names of the elves and goblins were very complicated to learn, and there was a lot of characters, people to know, political entities, religious figures etc. 

While it is written very well line by line, I think it was a bit too dry for my tastes. I don’t think I could make it through more of the book, because I’d be lost. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia

flyingryndeer's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Sexism

Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Confinement

cdelligatti13's review against another edition

adventurous 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

Moderate: Physical abuse

h4ppycupcake's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny 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

I found the protagonist very endearing and was so pumped every time he figured out how to solve a problem. Maia deserves all the cookies in the world. Highly recommend if you can stand complicated character names and honorifics. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Confinement, Bullying, Grief, Racism, Death, Death of parent, and Suicide

ladythana's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Child abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Dementia, Sexism, Car accident, Death, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Misogyny

Minor: Miscarriage, Kidnapping, and Racism

littki's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Suicide

Minor: Chronic illness, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, and Panic attacks/disorders

tasseomancie's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious relaxing slow-paced

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

5.0

This was a lovely read, and surprisingly cozy, despite the political intrigue, formal language, and intricate worldbuilding. I suppose the characterization has much to do with why I consider it a cozy read, as throughout Maia's rise from exile to emperor, he maintains his good heart. I'm eagerly looking forwards to reading the companion novels set in this universe, even though Maia is not the main character!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Suicide

The main character reminisces on the death of a parent and abuse by a guardian within the first 50 pages. There is a ritualistic suicide of a side character depicted in the latter half of the book, and ritualistic suicide is briefly mentioned in a few other places.

jupitermond's review against another edition

emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Racism and Physical abuse

Minor: Miscarriage

birdofalltrades's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Violence, Bullying, Classism, Grief, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Murder, Blood, and Sexism

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Infertility