Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

23 reviews

aelytacchan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I can't say I understand why Red Rising is a fan favorite. It wasn't bad, but its tempo is so gruelling that I almost DNFd it - saved only by the fact I already had all the audiobooks from a past sale.

I didn't love it, I didn't hate it, but I found a lot of it foul. I think that might be on purpose, but a lot of the violence seemed unnecessary and out of bounds even for the world's laws and customs.

Women were constantly used as symbols, to further plot points, or as convenient caretakers. Despite there being women peppered into the story, they were mostly inconsequential or, when they were of consequence, they just naturally decided they would rather follow Darrow.

I'll take some time to reflect on whether I want to invest more time into the following books, seeing as they're somewhat on the longer side, but as of now, I don't particularly feel like jumping into the next part of the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, Classism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death of parent, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Sexism

marla_arguelles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, Child death, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Confinement, War, Self harm, Torture, Toxic friendship, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Sexual content

brennapatt's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Physical abuse, War, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Xenophobia, Torture, Alcohol, Violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

ka_ke's review against another edition

I got bored. The book is predictably dystopian. 

I’m all for rallying the people against the oppressors, I think these stories are truly important, however there has to be a way to get the point across in less pages or with faster pacing. 

Also… you can tell a hetero-cis-male wrote the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Slavery, Confinement, Violence, War, Gore, Misogyny, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Body shaming, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Rape

rubyroses's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad 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

4.75

Red Rising is marketed as a mix between the Hunger Games & Enders Game. Like the Hunger Games the society of this novel is fractioned into  classes all with specific job and varying hierarchies. Meanwhile, like Enders Game it focus more on a battle arena type school then an all out Hunger Games killing fest. Yet, even with all this being said Red Rising is a unique novel. It’s premise is fresh and feels unheard off even in the vast sea of YA dystopian sci-fi that exists. 

Our main character Darrow is an interesting one. The journey he goes on is long and never ending. He’s a smart boy who is always struggling to stay ahead and often is falling one step behind but when he wins he doesn’t it magnificently. It’s the struggle that makes him interesting. Like most characters he is not perfect at the beginning and he is not perfect at the end. He is overwhelmingly human (😉). 

But, don’t read this book just for Darrow. Every character from Cassius to Servo (he’s my favourite) have their own brilliant moments. The writing is genuinely hilariously witty even in the most tense moments. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Torture, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Death, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Medical content, Classism, War, Animal death, Colonisation, Police brutality, and Sexual assault

zo_10's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad

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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book and I couldn't put it down. It definitely does start a bit slow but once it gets started, things start to move fast. Things that I didn't expect to happen, happened, there was betrayal and it was so exciting and just so amazing that I can't even put into words how much I loved the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, War, Murder, Blood, Death, and Violence

lemonwrlds's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-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

Moderate: Bullying, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Body horror, Cannibalism, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Child death, Confinement, Blood, Excrement, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Violence, War, Ableism, Child abuse, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Torture, Murder, Self harm, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, and Grief

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content

tiaharbingerofdeath's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

When I first started this book, I did not think that I would like the writing style at all but it quickly grew on me. I became very attached to the characters and loved watching them evolve. There is a strong theme of morality and what that means in this book and I felt that was captivating. Hopefully the rest of the series is just as good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Classism, Death, Bullying, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, and War

hesitantlitmas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Classism, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Blood

its_van_vulpen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Blood, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Cannibalism