Reviews tagging 'Torture'

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

20 reviews

beatingaroundthebooks's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Terminal illness, Infertility, Death, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Confinement

Moderate: Torture, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Child death, Cancer, Abandonment, Deportation, Violence, and Emotional abuse

radtj's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I really liked the author’s take on what it means to be human and time as a construct of humanity. This book leaves you with some unanswered questions, but it’s the feeling the book leaves you with that feels more important. The format and voice the author writes in compels you to be just as curious as the main character, and it definitely gives you some interesting topics to think about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Infertility, Grief, Confinement, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Genocide

zarlynsnook's review

challenging hopeful informative relaxing sad tense fast-paced

5.0

another read added to my all-time faves list ✨
i was moved and humbled by this book. reading this was like a free-flowing river that never stops. i just want to know how the story would end,if there's a future that lies ahead until i realized i'm nearing the end. 
the ending gave me a feeling of epiphany.despite having an unclear resolution, it made me realize a lot of things,about our society,about being a woman,about being human. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, and Abandonment

cloroxcrew's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Infertility, Death, Suicide attempt, and Confinement

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Torture, Violence, and Blood

notevenhalf's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Violence

jkull_10's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, and Torture

risemini's review

dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Torture, Blood, Cancer, Death, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Terminal illness

bailey_the_bookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

Can I give a book more than five stars?

Have you ever been punched in the face by a book, but in, like, a good way? Yeah, that. 

You know those books that you finish and are like “I’m going to be thinking about this book for the rest of the week/my life”? This is one of those. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Confinement, and Kidnapping

horizonous's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

2.25

Here's the thing: I won't forget this book easily, but I don't like it. It's too repetitive and too philosophical. This is one of those books I can't even really appreciate because I'm not quite sure what exactly it is trying to convey - beyond what is touched upon in the introduction which I read afterwards. I just don't have the brain or patience (especially with no answer to not just some but all of the questions asked) for philosophical thought experiments like the ones throughout this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Gore, Suicide, and Infertility

Minor: Cancer and Torture

◦ Suicude = incl. assisted suicide

rhinaissance's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Torture