Reviews tagging 'Violence'

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

43 reviews

wisewayfarer's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Terminal illness and Violence

iamcarlib's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. Thought provoking, intriguing right from the first page, and the writing style is very different but flows so beautifully. It was a true pleasure to read. I wish I hadn't read it so that I could enjoy it all over again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

jinglebellyee's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

So eerie and strange..? It gave me Society of the Snow vibes except the main character (the one woman who never knew men) never found an escape or hope.. it gets you thinking how would life be if captivity and solitary is all that you know? Even if you’re escaping, where are you running to? What is life without men (and other human beings)? Thoroughly enjoyed the thriller and mystery vibes.. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Abandonment

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

i did not realize this was dystopian/sci-fi. it was still really good. i do wish there was a little bit more of an explanation/closure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

liesthemoontells's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.75

This was a beautiful, haunting, moving book. I had put off reading it as the themes sounded incredibly heavy, but after a friend's recommendation and assurance that it was more of a reflective read I decided to tackle it. 

While the book's themes are complex, heavy, and at times very dark, Harpman's treatment of the subject matter is more meditative and philosophical than shock provoking. There are many ruminations on what it means to be human, on navigating love, gender, and human connection when you have been given no reference point. 

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who needs resolutions to their mystery fiction but if you are looking for a powerful and ambivalent piece of speculative literature I could not recommend it more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Minor: Violence and War

aideus's review

challenging dark reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Violence, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ambear16's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

ang44's review

mysterious reflective sad slow-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

"I was forced to acknowledge too late, much too late, that I too had loved, that I was capable of suffering and that I was human after all. I felt as if this pain would never be appeased... I think that that is what they call being consumed with remorse."
Amazing concept and execution, amazing perspective writing, absolutely gut-wrenching and emotion-provoking

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Violence

k8_m8's review

mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Grief

taniadunphy's review

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Violence