Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

29 reviews

krysley's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

 All right, a warning for anyone who reads the 2010 Simon & Schuster edition: do not read the preface unless you want spoilers for the rest of the books!

Now that that's out of the way: I loved this book so much.

Honestly, it was more than I ever expected it to be and brought out all the emotions, from anger and despair to heartbroken. These characters live in my head rent free and I'm glad to share the space with them. This book simply captivated me. Actually, it was more than that - I wanted to nerd out over this book, write a paper about the female characters and how McMurtry handled each one, and discuss every little nuance. It has been a long time since a book has effected me in such a way and I can't wait to read this again.

For a book written in 1985 about the 1870s, I was expecting heaps of misogyny, racism, and all the other hateful things that often spawn from those time periods combining. But . . . that wasn't what I got. Yes, there was misogyny and racism, but it was in the context of the time period (that didn't stop me from angrily crossing out the n-word in my personal copy every time I read it - some things I don't need to read over and over). 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Violence

deadeye's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Trafficking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

graceq22's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bmw18's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-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

I love this book! Read it after watching the TV series, and I love both. It's a long read, but gripping through it all.

But seriously that ending is horrible

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Sexual content

katjoyphil's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-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: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, and Murder

geoffreykeel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective relaxing sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexism, and Sexual assault

caitlin_bookchats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective sad slow-paced

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

I don't really know how I feel about this yet. Sorry!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Rape, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Medical content

Minor: Ableism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Cannibalism

8 or more characters die in the course of the book, there is occasional use of the n-word to describe black cowboys, there is a lot of talk about fear of specific tribes and American Indians generally, references to the Texas Rangers "civilizing" Texas by chasing all the tribes out, and one particularly brutal outlaw is an American Indian. Two of the four female characters have a background as or spend some time during the book as prostitutes and this is discussed fairly frankly but without flowery language or heavy detail.

stupendoussteve's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Part One can be a bit slow, it is chock full of character development which does pay off in the end but can be difficult at first. Later on the book has action, drama, and depth. There are parts that had me close to tears, it really does pull you in. The characters themselves seem very realistic, and not overly stereotypical. They all have their own personalities and motivations, they are all flawed and damaged people in various ways. It adds a lot.

I added a lot of content warnings but they should not be taken as negatives to this book at all. This book feels true to the post-civil war time period in the wild west. It was not a gentle place. This book does not feel explicit, it does not glorify the bad things that happen.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts

mynamerhymes's review against another edition

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

This book had so many problems: 
1. It is way too long. 
2. Rampant racism and misogyny throughout - the treatment of women, minorities, and native Americans was very bad. 
3. In all 37 hours of the audiobook there is only the faintest glimmer of a plot and so much unnecessary everything else. Why did no one edit out any of the tangents? What was the point?

But it won the Pulitzer and is your mother's favorite book, surely it must have redeeming qualities? And I did like the narrator and found the very beginning where they were just a few washed up Rangers hanging out in Lonesome Dove sort of funny. But if you think that a prize-winning door-stopper like this has anything to offer you, I recommend you list to Stars from Les Misérables while looking at pictures of the prairie - it will impart the same idea in significantly less time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual assault