Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

3 reviews

nicnymh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

It’s a good book in that it was well written, but as a book that is constantly touted as strong queer representation I was disappointed and a little horrified. Readers looking for healthy functional sapphic relationships or storylines should run in the opposite direction. Reads like it was written by a violent man who hates women, especially lesbians. Intense and pervasive sexual harassment of a teen by a family member, grooming and predator behavior. It’s intense, be warned.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Torture, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Mental illness, Classism, Murder, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Slavery

emfass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexism, Violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child death, and Trafficking

Minor: Religious bigotry

birdbrainbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

This book is so Dickensian, I kept forgetting that it wasn’t written during the 1800s. Sarah Waters is a phenomenal writer—no surprise she’s been shortlisted for the Man Booker prize three times. I enjoyed this one overall! I loved the intrigue, the twists (particularly the first BIG twist), and the organic integration of more authentically representative experiences for queer folk in historical settings. I will say that the book’s structure leads to some parts feeling repetitive and slow, and I think it could have been significantly shorter overall. But I look forward to reading more from Waters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence